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The Governance of Wetlands in the Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia



Author(s)

Mak Sithirith

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DOI:10.17265/2162-5263/2015.06.004

Cambodia is a country where wetlands cover 30% of the country’s total area. The Tonle Sap Lake is an important wetland area of Cambodia and Southeast Asia. However, wetland is under threats from infrastructure development, land conversion, water withdrawals, pollution, increased population pressure and hydropower dams building and affect the livelihoods of rural communities. The governance of wetlands is a key action in sustaining the wetland services and the well-being of people. The “wise use” is a key concept of wetland governance. Although there is considerable research on the “wise use” and the application of this concept in wetland management, its application in Tonle Sap remains challenged. Hence, this article addresses the question: How wise use is operationalized for the governance of wetlands in Tonle Sap and what implication it has on the wellbeing of peoples and the ecosystem services? It uses a literature review and a case study to analyze the wetland governance in Tonle Sap, Cambodia. The article describes the wetland governance based on ecosystem services, the direct and indirect driver affecting wetlands and how it threatens the livelihood security of wetland dependent communities. It concludes that the officially wise use of wetlands is a problematic in Tonle Sap.

Wetland, ecosystem services, wise use, well-being, decision-making, distribution of power, accountability