News on Youth Action in Natural Resource Management-English

8/9/2019 News on Youth Action in Natural Resource Management-English

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News on Youth Volunteer Network for Positive Change in Community

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Promoting the Role of Youth in Development andCommunitys Resources ConservationCambodian Volunteers for Society (CVS) together with Youth Resources

Development Program (YRDP), American Friends Service Committee (ISLP/AFSC),

Fishery Action Coalition Team (FACT), and Fisheries Administration of Prash Sihanouk

province, NGO Forum on Cambodia (NGOF) and Banteay Brey communityorganized a training program and a educational field trip on the Role of Youth inDevelopment and Communitys Resources Conservation. Starting on June 12-16,2010, the trip took active youth from different provinces, universities and the

community in CVSs Phnom Penh office, to Banteay Brey fishery community in the

Andoung Tmor Commune, Prey Nup District, as well as Prash Sihanouk province. The

program was made possible with cooperation from working together, these

organizations provided opportunities for youths to learn and gain real experience in

social work within a local community that would strengthen their social knowledge

skills, critical thinking ability, and provide chances for the youth to analyze their own

personalities in efforts to become better leaders for their communities.

Notable personnel attending the Mangrove transplanting event on themorning of June 15 were Mr. Doung Sam Ath, Chief of Administrative Fishery Official

of Sihanouk province, Mr. Pen Somony, Executive Director of CVS, Deputy Prey Nup

District Governor, Commune Chief, Representatives of Civil Society in Sihanouk

province, monks, key members of the Prey Nup district, and youth volunteers from all

around Cambodia, bringing the total number of participants to around 135 persons.

As Spoken by: Mr. Doung Sam Ath, Chief Official of the Fishery Administrationof Sihanouk province:

The youth participants in this event were actively aware of their

responsibilities to strengthen and empower the local and costal communities, and for

better management in the fishing industries to provide more sustainability for the

future generations that depend on these resources. Mangrove transplanting, today, is

one of the main mechanisms that the youth volunteer networks utilize in order to

contribute their personal resources and energy for improving the livelihood of the

community, environmental protection, and understanding the communitys natural

resources management. More importantly, mangroves are very important for

addressing tourism as well as environmental protection of marine resources that the

people and animals need for support daily life. Hereby, the community youth and

Mangrove transplanting celebration, awareness and handing mangroves to youth volunteers


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other local stakeholders are educated and instructed in ways of managing community

resources along with resource sustainability.

Moreover, Mr. Vann No, Chief of Andoung Tmor Commune, mentions thatyouth capacity building via educational field trips focuses on the understanding about

the benefits of planting mangroves, working skills, and experience exchange gained

through voluntary action while contributing to the improvement of the local

communitys livelihood. Improvement and awareness about the preservation ofnatural resources and mangrove transplanting has been raised by the Fishery Flooded

Forest Protection Community. They claim that extensive damage has been done to the

flooded (mangrove) forest in the area and that there is now a need to involve crisis

management plans in dealing with the mangrove supply. This is result of illegal fishing

in the area, as well as extensive actions in the past by people and companies cutting

the mangroves in order to produce charcoal and firewood. The Forestry

Administration and communities are currently trying to deal with this big problem, as

a reduced number of mangroves also mean reduced amounts of fish in the water.

Transplanting and awareness of these resource issues are keys in the mangroves

conservation. CVS and the other acting NGOs in this event aim to help to reduce the

effects of this problem by utilizing and educating the youth in efforts to establish agroup of people interested in preserving the mangroves, as well as seeing the

problems of the communities eased.

In addition, Mr. Pen Somony, Executive Director of CVS, confirmed that theactivities are very important for the youth in how it helps them learn about the local

communitys methods for resource protection and use. Within many of these

communities, the mangroves are an important and invaluable resource for them,

especially for their future wellbeing. The participating youths are showing their

commitment and contribution and time via their volunteer work with mangrove

transplanting. Also, these actions show the youths understanding and desire to

participate in resource conservation on behalf of the community. This shows theirability to accept high amounts of responsibility which have reflecting about in actions

such as environmental protection, community development, and concern for marine

habitat natural resources. Moreover, this activity will be a new model for local

community youth activist in the area to follow. Hopefully, the youth can take up the

message that we are trying to demonstrate here in that volunteers for mangroves, asmangroves are for all of us.

Youth volunteers transplanting mangroves in communitys protected area


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Therefore, via the learning opportunities and real-world experience in social

work that was provided to the youth and other participants, new knowledge was

spread that will hopefully lead to positive developments within the local communities

and about natural and fishery resources. With understanding of these issues, youth can

strengthen and build up their capacity in their ability to with host organization and

communities as well as communication skills in sharing their ideas and knowledge

gained from such activities. At the same time, these activities are demonstrating about

the roles that youth and local community people must take in their communitysdevelopment and resources conservation. From this, a new social model of care and

concern for the community through youth brainstorming can be used to create higher

levels of understanding on important social issues.

These activities are very important for Cambodian society on a whole, as it

provides contributions and developments in critical thinking, analysis skills, and real

practice in social order, all in efforts to improve communities livelihood, resource

protection, and youth motivation.

Texted by Mr. Som Monorum, CVSs Program Officer &

Mr. Travis Brooks Sloan, Texas State University, USA

Documents

News on Youth Action in Natural Resource Management-English