Group 1: Tonle Sap Location: Roberto

1. Group 1: Tonle SapLocation: Roberto • Mr. Carl Middleton • Mr. Chea Chan Tou • Mr. Eric Guerin • Mr. Ganesh Pangare • Mr. Hiek Sopheap • Mr. Hourt Khieu • Mr. Kaviphone Phouthavongs • Ms. Sarah Turner • Mr. SyVann Leng • Mr. Suppakorn Chinvanno Facilitators: 1. Terry Hills 2. Radhika Dave

2. Tonle Sap – Core Values (1a) Ecosystem Services: Fisheries Productivity, Nutrient Flow/Deposition on Floodplains, Regulation of Flood Pulse Habitats: Fish Sanctuaries, Flooded Forest, Dry Season Ponds, Floodplain Species: Many vulnerable and endangered species – eg. Mekong Giant Catfish

3. Tonle Sap - Development Trends (1b) Fishing: Increasing use of nets, brushwood as catch-per-unit effort increases, raising introduced species, seasonal migration from uplands for fishing during dry season Agriculture: Clearing of the flooded forest, increase use of pesticides, increased fertilizer use Tourism: Increased tourism, but benefits are not shared with local communities in Tonle Sap, increased pressure on natural resources, increased waste generation Hydropower: Larger systems cannot mitigate against migration problems, but well-designed smaller systems may

4. Climate Change vs Core Values (2) Looked at set of exposures: • Temp increase • Summer length increase • Increased intensity and variability of precipitation during the wet season • Reduced precipitation and increased length of dry season • Increased maximum monthly flows • Reduced minimum monthly flows

5. Climate Change vs Core Values (2) Looked at set of exposures: • Temp increase • Summer length increase • Increased intensity and variability of precipitation during the wet season • Reduced precipitation and increased length of dry season • Increased maximum monthly flows • Reduced minimum monthly flows …but, need to understand the seasonal hydrology: Water Level Jun Jan Dec Rainy Season

6. Climate Change vs Core Values (2) • Ecosystem Service: Fisheries Productivity: • Increased productivity likely if higher flow during wet season and lower flow during dry season, but decreased productivity if low flow during wet season and higher flow during dry season. • Increased temp: algal blooms, more fishfood, fish mortality at lower water level • Habitat: Dry Season Pools: vulnerable to changes in temperature and summer length • Habitat: Floodplain: Increased Temp : reduced rice productivity, change in pest vectors • Habitat: Flooded Forest: resilient to water level changes, forest fire vulnerability, surface area available for flooded forest growth will change depending on new hydrological regime. • Fish Species: Increased temperature leads to higher O2 and food intake demands: increased uptake of pollutants, increased flows may hamper upstream spawning migrations, erode spawning beds or sweep away juveniles and eggs, changes to flow timing may affect spawning behavior.

7. Tonle Sap – Resilience and Adaptation

8. Principles: Resilience to future change for communities and biodiversity • Reduce non climate pressures on natural ecosystems to maintain ecosystem services and build climate resilience for ecosystems • Maintain existing habitats and prevent spread of invasive species • Mainstream climate change knowledge into all gov’t agencies – at local level, sub national, etc…(also, need awareness of consequences of hydropower dams)

9. Actions: Resilience to future change for communities and biodiversity • Alternative income and livelihoods option: • Floating Villages: ecotourism, handicraft • Uplands/floodplain – alternative livelihoods to reduce pressure on lake • Maintain existing habitats for fish and other species + reforestation programs to provide longer-term food security • Balance of Education, Livelihood Options, Community Engagement and Enforcement. (use of appropriate fishing gear, awareness of values, monitoring, linkages and rules).

10. Actions (Cont’d) • Review and revise zoning of the Tonle Sap based upon modeled analysis and validation • Identify different cultivars of rice and fruit varieties that are more flood / drought tolerant • Improve early warning system – provide seasonal forecast information to communities

11. Next Steps – Information Needs • Baseline ecological information on current status of species and habitats (fish, reptiles, birds, mammals) and how these will respond to climate change. • Understand the functional ecology of flooded forests • Assess feasibility of alternate livelihoodoptions, water filters, alternative fish cooking units • Improved modeling and analysis of climate change and hydropower consequences to the Tonle Sap system and communities • Observed climate data lacking – Expand weather station network