‘Better-practice’ Concessions? Some Lessons from Cambodia’s Leopard Skin Landscape

This article focuses on two cases where companies have sought to develop more socially benign––and, they believe, more profitable and sustainable––plantation concessions in a context that is still marred by extensive land conflict. The first is the Mong Reththy Investment Cambodia Oil Palm (MRICOP) Company (Preah Sihanouk province); the second is the Grandis Timber Company (Kampong Speu province). We examine each case empirically, investigating how two well-intentioned yet strategically oriented companies navigate the complex landscape of multiple entitlements and competing claims that lurk beneath the surface of state ownership in Cambodia’s rural hinterland. In doing so, we interrogate the private sector’s role in helping address the state land problem, both in Cambodia and elsewhere.