Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve Coordination Committee Conducted the Field Mission to Prek Toal Core Area

On Monday, 19 February 2024, H.E. Mom Thany, Secretary of State of Ministry of Environment and Chairwoman of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve (TSBR) Coordination Management Committee, and the TSBR Secretariat of the Department of Freshwater Wetlands Conservation, in partnership with UNESCO and with support of the European Union, conducted a field mission to Prek Toal Core Area located at Koh Chiveang Commune, Ek Phnom District, Battambang Province.

The mission was participated by members of the TSBR Technical Working Group and Coordination Management Committee, representatives of relevant ministries under the TSBR Coordination Mechanism, institutions, six provincial administrations around the Tonle Sap and relevant developing partners including WCS, Save the Children, and Oxfam etc.

The objective of the field mission to Prek Toal Core Area is to bring members of the TSBR Coordination Mechanism and relevant stakeholders together to the site to assess the socioeconomic situation, biodiversity, water pollution, land use and management, and community livelihoods.

During the field visit, the mission team visited Prek Toal bird colony, and flooded forests and further consulted with representatives from the commune administration of Koh Chiveang, community protected areas, fisheries community, rangers, and women entrepreneurs and other relevant stakeholders at Prek Toal Core Area/Ramsar Site to discuss the ongoing activities, challenges, and suggestions from the community.

Following the field visit, a TSBR Technical Working Group Meeting was held on Tuesday 20 February 2024 at Somadevi Hotel, Siem Reap Province to further discuss the thematic areas and gather more inputs for the development of TSBR Strategic Plan 2024-2028. The meeting commenced with opening remarks by H.E. Mom Thany and followed by six presentations on important topics including hydrological change of the TSBR, status of the biodiversity and other activities being implemented at the TSBR by experts and developing partners. Further, there were group discussions on six thematic areas: 1. Governance and Management, 2. Pollution, 3. Natural Resources and Biodiversity, 4. Livelihoods, 5. Hydrology, and 6. Land Use Management.

The outcomes of the group discussions on the challenges, strengths, and weaknesses of the six thematic areas were collected and analyzed to feed into the development of the TSBR Strategic Plan.