On Friday 5 June 2009, over 500 community members in three separate areas of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve came together to participate in World Environment Day celebrations.

 

The events were quite a big hit. They featured school clean ups, environment art competitions, village parades, tree planting and other environment awareness-raising activities. Community volunteers planned, managed and led the events with support from national UN Volunteers working for the Tonle Sap Conservation Project.

“This is the first time we have celebrated World Environment Day” said Mr. Haeng Monout, Commune Council Chief of Phat Sonday Commune, adjacent to the Stung Sen biosphere area. “I am very happy to see this community organizing such an event to raise awareness about the environment”.

 Ms. Hy Tenghorn, National UNV community facilitator for Phat Sonday Commune, played a key role in getting community volunteers to support the event. “The community really enjoyed this event. We had rangers, teachers, community fishery groups, self-help groups, students, local authorities and monks involved in World Environment Day”.

Building community capacity to engage in environmental issues affecting the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve is a key objective of the UNV-supported Tonle Sap Conservation Project’s sustainable livelihoods component.

“Celebrating World Environment Day is an important step in respecting and strengthening the link between livelihoods and the local environment” said Ms. Tenghorn. “I’m happy to have helped my community take part in this global event, and look forward to Clean Up the World in September!”

The day was also celebrated in other parts of the country. The events were united in their renewed call for global actions to address climate change, an issue of great concern for the future humanity.

In Phnom Penh, Lay Khim, UNDP’s Environment and Energy team leader, went on air on four radio call-in shows to explain to listeners the causes and impacts of climate change. He also emphasized the importance of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message calling on governments, corporations and citizens alike to join hands in protecting the planet.

The Environment and Energy team also took part in the June 1-7 environment week organized by French Embassy and non-governmental group GERES. Various reports produced by UNDP were distributed to students, and posters from junior high school students’ drawing contest on climate change last year were displayed at a park in the capital. The drawings reflected the students’ view on the causes and impacts of climate change in the Cambodian context.

A 30-minute documentary film titled “Water for Life and Water for Livelihood” was shown to the public to raise awareness about the need to manage water resource in Cambodia, where the majority of people do not have access to proper sanitation and clean drinking water. The film provides a useful understanding on practical solutions to promote climate change resilience in water resource management.

“Climate change is a threat to everyone. But without action, the brunt of the impact will be felt by poor and vulnerable people in developing countries,” UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said in a statement marking WED. “A new, sustainable development path is essential in the face of climate change.”

“With little capacity to cope, many more would become malnourished and in some circumstances struggle to find water, and even be displaced. This highlights just how intertwined the tasks of addressing climate change, reducing global poverty, and reaching the Millennium Development Goals are,” she said.