Cambodia

Improving Livelihoods in Tonle Sap Lake Communities by Increasing Collaboration in Fisheries Resource Management and Governance

In Cambodia, the G-FISH is providing a forum for sharing information on the importance of productive and biologically diverse fisheries to food security in Cambodia by engaging key stakeholders to jointly assess the governance obstacles and opportunities for sustainable development of fisheries livelihoods on the Tonle Sap and facilitating communication and networking among local stakeholders to achieve common goals in support of this aim.

A locally-driven and owned process was established through the SCALE process from the start of the activity. Key opinion leaders and change agents from within the community were identified and invited to join the Advisory Group, allowing for actions to be catalyzed from within the system; key actors were identified from producers (fishers), civil society, private sector, and government. The Advisory Group has representatives from: Fisheries Administration, Community Fishery, WorldFish Center, Coalition of Cambodia Fishers, Cambodia Peace Network, Cambodia Development Research Institute, Culture and Environment Preservation Association, Cambodian Organization for Women Support (COWS), Learning Institute, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Royal University of Agriculture.

The Advisory Group was tasked with organizing a WSR retreat which brought together the system of stakeholders impacting or impacted by the fishery to increase communications and collaboration amongst these stakeholders. The retreat held in Siem Reap September 13-16 culminated with agreement by all participants on five common goals:

• Improvement of community livelihoods through proper natural resource management
• Effective and efficient communications on Tonle Sap resource management
• Improvement of collaboration among stakeholders
• Effective compliance with fisheries laws
• Conservation of flooded forests and promotion of sanctuaries for future generations to have food to eat

A total of 53 participants volunteered to serve on the Task Forces. Six Task Forces were established to focus on key issues that are reducing the natural productivity of fisheries and impacting livelihoods. The Task Forces are tackling discrete activities or working in focus areas to achieve the common goals. The Task Forces are as follows:

• Conservation of Inundated (Flooded) Forest Task Force
• Fishing Lots Advisory Task Force
• Improving Tonle Sap Livelihoods Task Force
• Patrolling, Enforcement, and Regulation Task Force
• Tonle Sap Fisheries Communication Task Force
• Tonle Sap Sanctuaries Task Force (8 members)

These Task Forces are the main organizing entities to promote and lead collaboration among stakeholders. G-FISH, through a local Communications and Networking Facilitator, works to support the Task Forces since the months following the WSR. For a summary of the WSR, please click here.

An initial focus for G-FISH was on developing short-term plans to move forward on key issues related to the Task Force topic with commitments to action by the members of the group. Initial task force meetings have been held since October 2011, and G-FISH has been invited to present the outcomes of the WSR at the Technical Working Group on Fisheries at the Fisheries Administration planned for late December 2011.