Tonle Sap Conservation Project

Purpose of Project

The Tonle Sap Conservation Project (TSCP) aims to build management capacity for biodiversity conservation in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. To achieve this aim, it works towards three main objectives: first, to enhance capacity for management of biodiversity in the three core areas of the reserve (Prek Toal, Boeung Tonle Chhmar and Stung Sen); second, to develop systems for monitoring and managing biodiversity; and third, to promote awareness, education, and outreach on biodiversity conservation in the reserve.

Main Activities

• Develop and implement standardized procedures for the designation of protected sites in the reserve.
• Demarcate the boundaries of the three core areas on the basis of agreements reached by all stakeholders.
• Develop comprehensive management plans for the three core areas for an operational period of five years.
• Establish and equip three management centres.
• Train staff in protected area management and biodiversity conservation.
• Design and implement a system for biodiversity monitoring and management, focusing on globally significant species and populations.
• Establish a rapid response mechanism for seasonal protection of key biodiversity, particularly large water bird breeding colonies.
• Develop a strategy for control of exotic species and implement trials for eradication or control.
• Develop a strategy to better enforce laws and regulations to protect key biodiversity and habitats.
• Identify subsistence activities that threaten biodiversity and develop alternative sustainable livelihoods.
• Develop and implement an Environmental Awareness, Education and Outreach Programme.
• Facilitate coordination of existing environmental awareness and education activities around the lake.
• Integrate environmental awareness, education and outreach into curriculums of selected schools, and promote national Environment Day to a broad cross-section of the population of the biosphere reserve.

Key Results

• Boundary marking has been completed in the three core areas: Prek Toal, Boeung Tonle Chhmar and Stung Sen.
• Management plans for the three core areas have been completed and three management centres for the core areas have been established.
• 52 rangers and custodians have received technical and financial support and training for law enforcement and regulations in the core areas.
• 162 rangers, managers and staff have been trained in protected area management, focusing on mapping, GPS, English, and database and management skills.
• Regular wildlife monitoring includes assessments of water bird colonies and water snake harvesting, and the annual census of the vulnerable sarus crane.
• Three environmental education centres are operating. Signboards have been erected on entry roads to make visitors aware they are entering the biosphere reserve.
• 502 poor families in the core areas have benefited from support for alternative livelihoods. Fish raised in cages are supplementing fish caught in the lake, but ecotourism, floating vegetable gardens and mushroom farming have proved more difficult to sustain.
• 12 committees for sustainable livelihoods and two community committees for natural resource management were functioning in 2009.
• 15 Community Savings Groups comprising 407 families were functioning in 2009 with guidance from a Steering Committee. In all, 395 families borrowed 135 million riel (US$33,750) to buy fishing gear or start small businesses, such as processing fish, selling sugar cane juice or groceries, or raising fish, pigs or chickens.
• 88 teachers, rangers, Commune Councillors, Savings Group Steering Committee members and project staff learned First Aid with the Cambodian Red Cross in 2009.
• 41 rangers and staff learned about management, law enforcement and ecotourism from communities in Bakom Sakor and Peam Krasab Protected Areas in Koh Kong Province in 2009.
• Seven monks attended a six-day training of trainers course on basic environmental awareness facilitated by the Association of Buddhists for the Environment.
• 21 women participated in a three-day workshop on financial administration, planning and reporting, and roles and responsibilities of the Steering Committee.
• 35 people including core area rangers, local authorities, and staff of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee and the Provincial Department of Environment were trained in Gender Equality Mainstreaming Strategies.
• 108 people including core area rangers, members of savings group committees, local authorities and national UNV volunteers attended the Get Ahead for Women in Enterprise course facilitated by ILO.
• 51 people, including Savings Group Committee members, local authorities and core area rangers, made an exchange visit in 2009 to the ecotourism project in Chi Path village in the Cardamom Mountains.
• 26 members of the Savings Group Steering Committee visited Chamcar Bei village in Kep Municipality to learn about community development from Bridges Across Borders South East Asia.
• More than 10,000 people living in the reserve have been reached by a community mobilization programme on the topics of water, energy and biodiversity.
• 255 teachers from 75 schools, including 60 from the core areas, have been trained on the Environmental Education Manual and Teaching Materials.
• World and National Environment Day was celebrated in all core areas in 2009.

Background

The Tonle Sap Lake is the largest permanent fresh water body in Southeast Asia and one of the most productive fresh water ecosystems in the world. About 3 million people live in the Tonle Sap sub-catchment, and many derive at least part of their subsistence needs or income from the lake’s resources. Fresh water fish from commercial and community firsheries make up about half of Cambodia’s total production. The Tonle Sap is also an ecological hot spot of global importance, and was designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1997. The lake is a seasonal breeding, nursery and feeding ground for fish and large water birds, and a last refuge for some globally threatened species. However, over-exploitation, exotic species, encroachment and land clearing are all putting pressure on the ecosystem. Developments up stream are also of major concern, particularly large-scale dam construction on the Mekong tributaries that could affect annual flood levels.