The loss of access to forest land or the destruction of these resources deprives communities of many essentials as well as income from the sale of these resources. The impacts of logging on watershed areas affects local hydro-dynamics and water quality, which in turn can affect agricultural production. Industrial scale logging affects traditional lifestyles in remote communities by introducing heavy machinery and vehicles as well as workers from other provinces and neighbouring countries. Log trucks quickly destroy roads making them impassable in the wet season and creating excessive amounts of dust in the dry season. Logging roads also provide access for further illegal cutting.
Local communities can benefit from road construction and logging related jobs.
A responsibly managed concession could lessen the scale of illegal logging, but such concessions are almost completely non-existent in Cambodia. Conversely log roads open up areas for further illegal timber exploitation further degrading the forests. In addition to the social, ecological and economic implications of deforestation discussed elsewhere, the rural population also face an uncertain future as industrial scale agro-business threatens to deny them access to large areas of the country. By doing so Pheapimex-Fuchan is preventing the local population access to a means of livelihood. Whilst responsible agricultural development and foreign investment is to be encouraged, these concessions do not fit such criteria because they are granted on land that is already being used by local people, either as agricultural land or for collection of fuelwood, timber and NTFPs.