Tonle Sap Conservation Project- Protecting Unique and Critical habitat to Safeguard Human Livelihoods and Food Security in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia.​

Description

The “Tonle Sap Conservation Project- Protecting Unique and Critical Habitat to Safeguard Human Livelihoods and Food Security in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia” was funded by Foundation Ensemble (FE). The 4-year project began on November 1st 2011 and is scheduled to end on October 31st, 2015. More information about Fondation Ensemble projects including this project in Cambodia can be found here: http://www.fondationensemble.org/en/

The goal of the Tonle Sap Conservation Project was to strengthen income generating opportunities, develop new and improved livelihoods, maintain food security, and improve access to clean water for many of Cambodia’s poorest people, linking to restoration of the Tonle Sap Lake’s unique flooded forest ecosystem. This goal was to be achieved by partnering with local communities, the Cambodian government, local private sector actors and local non-governmental organizations to create alternatives to harmful practices such as overfishing and destruction of flooded forest habitats. The project location was on the Tonle Sap lake in Pursat Province, Krakor District, and targeted three villages and 200 households.

The firm provided consultancy service for following objectives:

• Work with local communities and the Cambodian government to support food security for people living on the Tonle Sap in our target area, by improving management of the large tracts of flooded forest and the associated fishery that occur outside of commune boundaries within the project area;
• Facilitate sustainable provision of fuelwood and non-timber forest products for local communities, by empowering them to sustainably manage flooded forests within their communal boundaries through strengthening of Community Fisheries and Community-Managed Conservation Areas;
• Identify an appropriate technology for providing clean water for the floating village areas and to increase access to clean water for drinking and household use by the households in the target area, to help reduce incidences of water-born disease and infections;
• Improve access to fuel-efficient cooking stoves that reduce the pressure on the flooded forest and minimize the amount of time women spend on collecting firewood;
• Improve livelihoods and food security by intensifying aquaculture production, strengthening women-led fish processing microenterprises and improving access to commercially sustainable market mechanisms;

Monitor our success to allow amplification by replicating our approach in other core flooded forest areas

Specific method and approaches:

• The study is mix study method with focus on primary qualitative data collection and using quantitative secondary data for validation.