Environmental damage and climate change are threatening the lake which is often described as Cambodia's "beating heart".
Sohail Rahman
With its rich and diverse ecosystem, Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake is often described as the beating heart of the country, supporting the livelihoods of more than one million people and attracting visitors from across the region.
Yet, climate change and man-made pressures are affecting the lake, resulting in a drastic reduction in its fish stocks and worrying low water levels.
Earlier this year, the Global Nature Fund designated it as the world's most "threatened" for 2016.
"In recent years, the water volume continuously declined with negative impacts on fish migration and the import of sediments," GNF said in a statement.
Sohail Rahman
With its rich and diverse ecosystem, Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake is often described as the beating heart of the country, supporting the livelihoods of more than one million people and attracting visitors from across the region.
Yet, climate change and man-made pressures are affecting the lake, resulting in a drastic reduction in its fish stocks and worrying low water levels.
Earlier this year, the Global Nature Fund designated it as the world's most "threatened" for 2016.
"In recent years, the water volume continuously declined with negative impacts on fish migration and the import of sediments," GNF said in a statement.
"In some places in the Tonle Sap Lake, the water level dropped more and more in the dry season and wetlands dried up permanently. Beyond that, illegal fishing methods, like poison, explosives and small-meshed nets are often used."
'I gave up'
For years, fishermen have earned a living from the lake's waters, which spread across 16,000sq km.
But things have changed recently for people like Bun That, whose family have been fishing for generations.
"For the past several years, the catch got less and less and I couldn't feed my family," he said.
"So I gave up and looked for work as a taxi driver."
In 2016, the region saw an unprecedented drought but - according to officials - environmental factors and man-made effects pressure were mainly to blame.
The lake is vital for the region, and for a part of the population it is their only option to survive.
If the current situation continues, many may have to find other ways to earn a living.
Source: Al Jazeera
2 comments:
[..environmental factors and man-made effects pressure were mainly to blame...]
partially to blame ... the sun is also involved...[ CME /coronal mass ejections of billions of ions to earth , each time it is earth facing ; earth weather pattern is affected , even some people has been able to prove that earth tectonic plates are as well affected by those incoming ions ]
from india news : [A US-developed weapon system that strikes the atmosphere with a focused electromagnetic beam may cause global warming, the government today said and acknowledged that climate change is likely to reduce the yield of major crops like wheat and maize in India."HAARP is an advanced model of a super powerful ionospheric heater which may cause the globe to warm and have global warming effect," Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply...]
and of course , all the dams built by just about every country along the mekong river , are not helping either.
Please don't blame to climate change The main reason are Million of YUON living in the lake. done talk about anything just one think only Where is the YUON shit go? and how many tone per day? That the big and really big problem isn't it. How about 10 or 20 years to go the lake fill up with YUON shit than it will be no lake later.
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