Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Tonle Sap, or Great Lake, is the largest freshwater body is southeast asia, covering 16,000 square kilometers during the monsoon season, during which time rainfall is so great as to reverse the flow of the Mekong River. For centuries, Cambodia has depended on this water body for sustenance. Today more than 3 million people live on or around this lake, which provides more than 60 percent of Cambodia’s protein intake.
This year, we travelled to Siem Reap for an MCC conference, during which time we had a chance to visit the lake and see some of the work that is going on with the IUCN and other organisations seeking to protect the lake and the vulnerable people groups who depend on this lake for their livelihoods. Tonle Sap is particularly interesting in that it is home to a few thousand people who live on boats, lashed together, creating a small city complete with markets and gardens. These people are particularly vulnerable in that they do not own any property except their houses which move from place to place depending on water levels.

In addition to seeing Tonle Sap, we were able to spend a couple days amongst the ruins of Angkor, about which I will write presently.