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Youth showing messages for sustainable fishery resource and
flooded forests in Tonle Sap Lake
October 18th -20th, 2010, Cambodian Volunteers for Society (CVS)
in collaboration withFisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT),
Fishery Administration of Siem Reap, Keo Pore Communeand Pork
District authorities organized the Learning with Youths Action for
Sustainable FisheryResources Management in Tonle Sap Lake together
with juvenile releasing ceremony in the Keo
Pore community fishery held in Pheam Taoure Village, Keo Pore
community, Keo Pore commune,Pork District, Siem Reap province.
Attended the event, Mr. Mao Pisoth, Deputy Chair of Pork
district, Mr. Tem Savuth, Chair ofFishery Administration of Siem
Reap province, Mr. Pen Somony, Executive Director of
CVS,Representative of FACT, and Fishery Administration Officials,
Keo Pore commune council, localyouth, students, volunteers, and
fishers from communities in Siem Reap and Battambang provincewith
the total number of 270 participants.
Stated in the Juvenile releasing ceremony, Mr. Pen Somony,
Executive Director of CVS saidthat,
fisheries resources and flooded forests in Tonle Sap area have
been changed andsuffered from daily human activities to fill the
needs of both local people and outsiders.
Local youths are also living and using the resources in the
area, but their actions incontribution to the existing issues is
very limited. Therefore, encouraging young people tounderstand the
issues and take responding actions are very important via
buildingcapacity and offering alternative livelihoods to youth in
fishing communities is needed forthose who are fishery
resource-based livelihood in order to reduce the natural
resourcesto ensure sustainable uses for the young generation.
In addition, Mr. Tem Savuth, Head of Fishery Administration of
Siem Reap province said that,releasing over 10,000 juveniles is
very little compared to the large area of Tonle Sap Lake,but it
aims at engaging youth and community people in this area and other
areas to realizethe high values of fishery resources and flooded
forests existing in Tonle Sap Lake andactively involve in
protection activities and sustainably use these potential
varietyresources.
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Mr. Moa Pisuth, Deputy Chair of Pork district also gave his
speech that,encouraging young people to learn and protect fishery
resources and flooded forests is anew activity that can mobilize
youth to take their own action in contribution to povertyreduction.
To develop fishing communities with effectiveness, it needs also
contributionfrom the young together with the old by working with
commitment and responsibilities tosupplement each other for a
bigger effort in their community by commitments andresponsibilities
so that the community can truly get rid of poverty.
Moreover, Ms. Ly Samet, the youth representative in Keo Pore
community addressed his
voices on behalf local youth that,potentials of community youths
especially young women are not mobilized developed andutilized and
their participation in their community resource management have not
beenwidely opened, encouraged and recognized. Youth especially
young women incommunities are neglected and not encouraged to
express their ideas and involve in theircommunity development
process and local resource management. Due to
difficultcircumstances of their family livelihood, access to
natural resources and alternativelivelihoods, some youths have
dropped out from their school, migrate for job to otherlocations or
become drug addicted, gamble or even gangster. As result, there are
lacks ofyouth participations in community development process as
planning, decision-making andimplementation, community local
resources protection, lack of understanding of goodpractice and
their own culture, and youth potentials are not being utilized at
the locallevel.
The following are suggestions and recommendations of the local
youth stated by the youthrepresentative in the event to the
government, specialized institutions, local authorities,
anddevelopment agencies, national and international NGOs, youth and
other stakeholders.
1. Youth to use and protect natural resources in Tonle Sap Lake
and other areas sustainablyand equitably.
2. Promote and engage youth in planning, decision-making and
voluntary actions inconservation and development of natural
resources from the grassroots to the nationallevel.
3. Support youth network to exchange experiences, local
knowledge, vocational and workingskills and culture at the
grassroots in order to engage youth in conservation and
development of communitys resources.4. Offer alternative
livelihoods via vocational trainings and micro business to fulfill
the need
for livelihoods of young people in community which will
contribute to reducing resource-based livelihoods including fishery
resources in Tonle Sap Lake.
With this regard, Ms. Ly Samet, the youth representative in
community, emphasized that westrongly hope that, our issues,
worries, suggestions and recommendations delivered will be
publiclyheard, recognized and taken into consideration with
responding actions to support to local youth bythe government,
specialized institutions, local authorities, development agencies,
national andinternational NGOs, youth and other stakeholders.
Therefore, engaging young people in learning and acting directly
with community-basedorganizations is really important for
empowering young people with voluntary spirit to activelycontribute
their wisdom via actions for sustainable fisheries resource
management in regard topoverty alleviation of the people.
Building Young Agents for Changes
