{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Freshwater ecosystem under threat from dams and overfishing' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d691d8eafeecae204a76' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d691d8eafeecae204a76' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nFreshwater ecosystem under threat from dams and overfishing\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eLEADIN:              One of Cambodia's most vital freshwater ecosystems is at risk from a combination of hydroelectric dams, overfishing, deforestation and pollution.               The Tonle Sap Lake is called 'the beating heart of...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eLEADIN:\u003cbr/\u003e              One of Cambodia's most vital freshwater ecosystems is at risk from a combination of hydroelectric dams, overfishing, deforestation and pollution. \u003cbr/\u003e              The Tonle Sap Lake is called 'the beating heart of Cambodia', supplying three-quarters of the nation's protein from fishing and supporting the livelihoods of around one million people.  \u003cbr/\u003e              STORYLINE: \u003cbr/\u003e              Located in the centre of Cambodia, the Tonle Sap Lake has been the lifeblood for millions of people for centuries. \u003cbr/\u003e              The lake yields about 300,000 tonnes of fish per year, making it one of the world's most productive freshwater fisheries. \u003cbr/\u003e              It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, swelling from 2,700 sq. km to around 16,000 sq. km in the rainy season. \u003cbr/\u003e              Listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2007, the lake consists of three distinct zones: an open lake at its centre, a surrounding freshwater swamp-forest and seasonally flooded grasslands at the margins.\u003cbr/\u003e              The swamp forest is considered the most important because it's home to many rare species of animals, insects and waterbirds and it plays a key role in fish reproduction.\u003cbr/\u003e              Around 80,000 people live directly on or around the lake with another one million people in the catchment area.\u003cbr/\u003e              The Tonle Sap is vital for the national economy with about 60 percent of Cambodia's inland fish catch coming from the lake, which also supports migratory fish caught upstream. \u003cbr/\u003e              But experts say it is being destroyed - by overfishing to feed a fast-growing population, by the cutting of mangrove forests that shelter young fish and by hydroelectric dams upstream.\u003cbr/\u003e              In 2016 the Global Nature Fund designated the Tonle Sap as the world's most \"threatened\" lake.\u003cbr/\u003e              Female fisherman Luan Chanti earns a living producing the popular food staple Prahok - a pungent fish paste that forms the basis of many traditional Cambodian recipes.\u003cbr/\u003e              \"In the past we would catch lots of fish using our nets but now there are so many people fishing here that we're not catching much anymore,\" she says. \u003cbr/\u003e              \"That means we're making far less Prahok than before. Yes, and now the water level is high again but it smells really bad and as I said there's not as much fish as before.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              Om Savath is the Executive Director of the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), an NGO which works with fishermen on the Tonle Sap, and with the government, to address the problems affecting the lake. \u003cbr/\u003e              He says the construction of many hydroelectric dams on the rivers feeding into the Tonle Sap is having a big effect. \u003cbr/\u003e              \"The issue of hydroelectric dams on the rivers entering the Tonle Sap is very important,\" says Savath. \u003cbr/\u003e              \"They have plans to build more dams upstream in Laos. In Cambodia we already have the Sesan 'bi' - the  Sesan 2 dam. We're worried that the electric dams will affect fish migration and reproduction rates. The dams have also slowed down the rate of water flowing into the lake, in particular the Sesan 2 dam. This affects the water quality in the Mekong river too even though the Tonle Sap is just a lake of the bigger river system.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              The forests surrounding the lake have been stripped for decades because many people rely on wood and charcoal for fuel.  \u003cbr/\u003e              And there are more and more people chasing fewer and smaller fish.\u003cbr/\u003e              Some sixty floating villages are now found on the lake, twice the number 30 years ago.  \u003cbr/\u003e              Many rural Cambodians have been displaced by land grants to large agribusinesses, while others  have sold their farmland to pay off debts, and migrated to the Tonle Sap. \u003cbr/\u003e              According to the Fisheries Administration (FA), from 1998 to 2008, the most recent period studied, the number of full-time Tonle Sap fishermen grew by 38 percent to 38,200, and the number of lakeside farmers, many of whom fish part time, increased by 33 percent to 520,800.\u003cbr/\u003e              Fish catch data collected by the FA from 2000-2015 also shows that while total production has remained steady, the composition of the catch has changed dramatically.\u003cbr/\u003e              Fishermen's nets are now being filled with a selection of small fish species with larger fish becoming rarer and some species almost disappearing.\u003cbr/\u003e              Experts say that this shows that nature's ability to respond to the heavy fishing on the lake is reaching its limit. \u003cbr/\u003e              \"I used to catch a lot of fish but now there are too many people working here and the fish have all disappeared,\" says fisherman Leng Seila. \u003cbr/\u003e              \"I try various techniques like fishing with drift-nets, trawling-nets and using lines with hooks but still I don't catch very much.\" \u003cbr/\u003e              The Cambodian government says it is looking at the issues but so far little has been done on the ground.\u003cbr/\u003e              \"We are continuing to work with the fishermen in the region to try to fix the problems,\" says Om Savath from FACT. \u003cbr/\u003e              \"We've had many meetings with the parties involved to discuss the issues. Just this morning we filed our latest report with the Ministry of the Environment and soon they will be discussing with us what we should to do.\" \u003cbr/\u003e              Experts say that in the absence of clear policies to save the Tonle Sap, fishermen in the short term will likely fish more aggressively. \u003cbr/\u003e              But as catches get poorer, many will move away to the cities contributing to concerns about mass migration and potentially making food insecurity in the country much worse.\u003cbr/\u003e            \u003cbr/\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e              Tonle Sap Lake, Kampong Chhnang province - 30 September 2017\u003cbr/\u003e              1. Wide aerial of floating houses on lake.\u003cbr/\u003e              2. Aerial of floating houses on lake.\u003cbr/\u003e              3. Medium of people in a boat. \u003cbr/\u003e              4. Close tilt up of driver. \u003cbr/\u003e              5. Wide of passing boat. \u003cbr/\u003e              6. Wide of village. \u003cbr/\u003e              7. Wide of birds in treetops.  \u003cbr/\u003e              8. Wide of birds.  \u003cbr/\u003e              9. Close up of insect flying from a twig. \u003cbr/\u003e              10. Wide of passing by floating houses. \u003cbr/\u003e              11. Wide aerial of boat.\u003cbr/\u003e              12. Wide pan of boat and people.   \u003cbr/\u003e              13. Close up of woman in boat. \u003cbr/\u003e              14. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Luan Chanti, female fisherman:\u003cbr/\u003e              \"In the past we would catch lots of fish using our nets but now there are so many people fishing here that we're not catching much anymore. That means we're making far less prahok (fish paste) than before. Yes, and now the water level is high again but it smells really bad and as I said there's not as much fish as before.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              \u003cbr/\u003e              Phnom Penh - 16 October 2017\u003cbr/\u003e              15. Medium of Om Savath working on a laptop. \u003cbr/\u003e              16. Close up pan of his face.\u003cbr/\u003e              17. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Om Savath, Executive Director,  Fisheries Action Coalition Team: \u003cbr/\u003e              \"The issue of hydroelectric dams on the rivers entering the Tonle Sap is very important. They have plans to build more dams upstream in Laos. In Cambodia we already have the Sesan 'bi' - the Sesan 2 dam. We're worried that the electric dams will affect fish migration and reproduction rates. The dams have also slowed down the rate of water flowing into the lake, in particular the Sesan 2 dam. This affects the water quality in the Mekong river too even though the Tonle Sap is just a lake of the bigger river system.\"\u003cbr/\u003e              \u003cbr/\u003e              Tonle Sap Lake, Kampong Chhnang province -30 September 2017\u003cbr/\u003e              18. Wide aerial of village.  \u003cbr/\u003e              19. Wide aerial of village. \u003cbr/\u003e              20. Boat travelling through floating village.\u003cbr/\u003e              21. Tracking shot of floating houses. \u003cbr/\u003e              22. Tracking shot of floating houses. \u003cbr/\u003e              23. Wide of boys paddling a boat. \u003cbr/\u003e              24. Wide of boat in the distance.\u003cbr/\u003e              25. Medium of man preparing to cast a fishing net. \u003cbr/\u003e              26. Wide of man casting fishing net. \u003cbr/\u003e              27. Medium of man hauling in fishing net. \u003cbr/\u003e              28. Close up of fish frying in pan. \u003cbr/\u003e              29. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Leng Seila, fisherman.\u003cbr/\u003e              \"I used to catch a lot of fish but now there are too many people working here and the fish have all disappeared. I try various techniques like fishing with drift-nets, trawling-nets and using lines with hooks but still I don't catch very much.\" \u003cbr/\u003e              30. Wide aerial of village and lake. \u003cbr/\u003e              31. Wide aerial of floating houses.\u003cbr/\u003e              32. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Om Savath, Executive Director, Fisheries Action Coalition Team:\u003cbr/\u003e              \"We are continuing to work with the fishermen in the region to try to fix the problems. We've had many meetings with the parties involved to discuss the issues. Just this morning we filed our latest report with the Ministry of the Environment and soon they will be discussing with us what we should to do.\" \u003cbr/\u003e              33. 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