Why are we working at Tonlé Sap?

That is where the hairy-nosed otters live!

In 2007, the Cambodian Conservation Otter Project identified Tonle Sap as the best site for otter conservation in Cambodia. However, it is under pressure due to unsustainable use of natural resources, related to wildlife and the flooded forest habitat, especially endangered species such as the hairy-nosed otter, smooth-coated otter, and fishing cat.

Tonlé Sap lake is the largest lake in south east Asia, and forms in a large depression in the centre of the country.  In the dry season, November to May, it is 2,700 square km (1500 square miles) in area and about 1m (3 feet) deep, and drains into the Mekong at its south end via the Tonlé Sap river  In the monsoon, however, so much water pours down the Mekong that the delta can't conduit it fast enough, and it pushes up the Tonlé Sap river into Tonlé Sap, increasing its area to 16,000 square km (10,000 square miles), and up to 9 m (12 feet) deep, and bringing in sediment, nutrient and fish that make it incredibly productive.  As the  lake expands from 160km long to 260 km, it gradually floods the surrounding forests and rice fields.  It is in this flooded forest that the hairy-nosed otters live.

The people who live on and around Tonlé Sap have learnt to live with its pulsating flow.  There are many permanent floating villages of houseboats on the lake, some such as Kompong Khleang and Kompong Phluk have small sandy islands at their centres.  Other people live along the long, raised causeways such as Kompong Khleang, and have temporary thatched huts which are dismantled and moved along the causeways on trucks.

People who live permanently on land have houses on stilts that must be at least 10m high to allow for the rise in water level.

The people who live in floating villages are fishermen - the fishing industry in Cambodia is so important that the currency, the riel, is named after a small fish using in millions for fish paste!  Tonlé Sap one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world, supporting over 3 million people and providing over 75% of Cambodia's annual inland fish catch and 60% of Cambodians' protein intake.