Even knowing all the sensitivities and pressures - and the back-room deals
I still can't figure out why the Gov did not kick up a God Almighty stink about this kneecapping of Cambodia.
It is going to be crippling.

Personal wealth of a few vs. the good of the majority

Personal wealth wins every time, in almost every country

They probably already have plans to lease the dry lake bed off to some Chinese investors. Would make for some nice condo and borey developments...

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:11 am Even knowing all the sensitivities and pressures - and the back-room deals
I still can't figure out why the Gov did not kick up a God Almighty stink about this kneecapping of Cambodia.
It is going to be crippling.

A lot of times one get the feeling the government doesn't care about this country.

The rich have been at it for years.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure

Years?

Try Centuries. From the Kings of old to modern times.

No European like ‘Age of Enlightenment’ occurred in Cambodian history.

Waning fish-catch in Cambodia's Tonle Sap region
Thursday, 08 Apr 2021
4:45 PM MYT

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/ANN): The freshwater and marine fish catch in the first quarter of the year was 960,000 tonnes, indicating a drop for all types of fish compared to the same period last year.

More than 600 fisheries crimes were cracked down on nationwide, according to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The ministry’s report released on April 5 stated that freshwater fisheries along the Tonle Sap river yielded 1,310 tonnes, a decrease of 190 tonnes; freshwater products caught by families was 56,800 tonnes, a decrease of 12,600 tonnes.

The report said the fish catch on family-level rice fields was 12,800 tonnes, indicating a decrease of 4,700 tonnes compared to the same period last year.

“The marine fishery business achieved 25,780 tonnes of the 130,000 tonnes planned for 2021, a decrease of about 20 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2020, ” the report said.

The report also said in the aquaculture sector covering fish and shrimp farming, the yield was at 44,800 tonnes, a decrease of 7,000 tonnes compared to the same period last year.

With regard to crime, the report said: “There were 648 cases of fisheries crimes, which is an increase of 49 cases compared to the first quarter of 2020. There were 632 freshwater and 16 maritime crimes.”

Agriculture Minister Sakhon said in the report that in the past three months, the ministry had effectively prevented fisheries and other crimes by cooperating with the inter-ministerial commission. He urged relevant authorities to continue strictly enforcing the law to combat the crimes.

Sakhon said: “[Relevant authorities] have to strengthen regular cooperation with local authorities at all levels to prevent fisheries crimes, especially to strictly implement the decision of the Royal Government on the establishment of the inter-ministerial commission to prevent and suppress fisheries crimes in the Tonle Sap Lake.”

Chak Choeun, head of the Doung Steng fishing community in Stoung district’s Peam Bang commune in Kampong Thom province said that the fish catch has declined due to environmental changes such as drought, which has led to a decline in the fish population.

“In my own community, fishermen cannot catch fish like before and it is very difficult because we do not have enough food to eat every day. Before, we used to get around 8kg per day, now we can’t catch enough fish for our daily food, ” he said.

Choeun believed that the experts in charge have to strictly prevent fisheries crimes. He suggested that more firm measures need to be taken, especially against illegal fishing. This is for the return and maintenance of fish resources.
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/as ... sap-region

19 May 2021

TONLE SAP RIVER FISHING AREA DRIES UP
Tonle Sap River has dried up in the fishing and tourist area in Kampong Phluk village in Siem Reap province’s Prasat Bakong district, affecting the livelihoods of over 700 families who depend on fishing and tourism.
- Siem Reap Daily News

Urgent Action Needed to Restore the Tonle Sap’s Imperiled Ecosystem
Chou Phanith is professor at RUPP’s Department of Natural Resource Management and Development.

Sao Phal Niseiy 08/11/2021 6:30 PM

Chou Phanith, professor at RUPP’s Department of Natural Resource Management and Development, sat down with Cambodianess to discuss the future of the Tonle Sap Lake and action needed to save it

Sao Phal Niseiy: The Tonle Sap Lake was listed a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1997 and is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, but there have been a lot of changes to the ecosystem and local people have raised concern over the environmental degradation and the decline of fish catches. What do you think of this? Are we reaching an irreversible end when it comes to saving the Tonle Sap Lake from a peril?

It is very obvious that Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve has changed its hydrology leading to change ecosystem functions for fish habitat, flooded forest, sediment, and pollution. It significantly influences the fish population and other biodiversity such as algae, higher plants, amphibians and reptiles and birds. The consequences will not only impact the 1.7 million people who depend on natural resources in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, but it also extends its impact to other provinces downstream of the Mekong River. It is indeed critical and urgent to save the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve using a holistic approach rather than fragmented small-scale projects.

Sao Phal Niseiy: Could you please tell us a little bit more about the existential threats facing the lake’s biodiversity that need urgent actions?

Hydrology change from the upper Mekong River system, the water budget and water flow have not come by this season and flows have been very low, it has created critical impacts for the habitats of fish and some areas are too dry, leading to forest fires that cause the destruction of bird sanctuaries and agricultural fields of the people. This also leads to movement of the workforce, creating labor shortages in intensive agricultural activities.

And there are other existential threats facing the Lake’s ecosystem. First, it is reverse impact from agricultural land expansion and irrigation systems. This contributes to a decline in wild fish production due to the fact that water volume is also decreasing.

The use of agrochemicals is also a huge problem. It includes the use of pesticides and fertilizer, and this critically affects fish habitat and fish production. Furthermore, it contributes to a reduction of soil fertility and damages micro-organism for agricultural cultivation

Another threat is pollution. Urban and domestic liquid waste is not treated well before being discharged into bodies of water, creating water pollution and increasing toxins flowing into agricultural land.

Last but not least, I would say, is extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. Most importantly, drought limits agricultural production and productivity among the farmers in the region.
More: https://cambodianess.com/article/urgent ... -ecosystem

Another poor wet season endangers Cambodia’s biggest lake and its people
Climate change, unsustainable and illegal fishing and the proliferation of hydropower dams on rivers that feed Tonle Sap threaten the livelihoods of over one million Cambodians
Ate Hoekstra, Yon Sineat
November 24, 2021

Sarun Nong, a fisher on Koh Krabey, a small island in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake, takes another look at the fishing net in front of him. It contains only small fish, and too few of them to make ends meet.
“All together it’s maybe 3 or 4 kilos. I receive 1,000 riel [USD 0.25] per kilo, so I earned no more than 4,000 riel [USD 1] last night,” he says.

For fishers like Sarun who depend on Tonle Sap lake for their livelihoods, almost every day this rainy season has been a disappointment. Just like last year and the year before that, water levels on the lake were much lower than they should have been at the height of the rainy season this October. For them, low water levels mean fewer fish migrating to their section of the lake and more challenges in growing crops, which rely on the nutrients from flood waters.

“We have expenses for the fishing net and the boat. If it goes on like this we only lose more money,” says Sarun, as his children pick a few fish from the net.

Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia, was long known as one of the most productive fisheries in the world. But climate change, unsustainable and illegal fishing and the proliferation of hydropower dams on rivers that feed Tonle Sap threaten the livelihoods of over one million Cambodians who depend on the lake. This year, things have been even worse than previous years, with water levels around three meters lower than in 2018 by mid-October.

Each rainy season, the flow of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap river reverses. The monsoon rains increase the water flow on the Mekong, Southeast Asia’s longest river which flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, where it meets the Tonle Sap river. Instead of flowing to the sea, the Tonle Sap river changes course in the rainy season. Then, Tonle Sap lake functions as a massive basin for the Mekong River, expanding to six or seven times its dry season extent, flooding farmland and forests.

Tonle Sap seasonal flooding map

Through this process, agricultural land is fertilised and irrigated, while flooded forests provide ideal breeding grounds for fish that migrate to from the Mekong River to the lake in massive numbers. At the end of the wet season, in mid-November, the Tonle Sap river reverses course again, and the floodwaters empty into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and on into the South China Sea.

But this year, much of the land remained dry. “We had the same situation last year. In the past the land would always flood. It’s very healthy for the soil if the water covers the land,” says Yin Sela, a farmer who lives on the edge of the lake a few kilometres outside of Kampong Chhnang city.

Last year Yin had to wait until November before the floods arrived. He worries that the floods may not come at all this year.
Full arrticle: https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/livelih ... nd-people/