Building community capacity to manage freshwater fisheries in Cambodia

Cambodia is home to one of the world’s largest inland fisheries. Centered around the Tonle Sap Lake and Mekong River, the fishery provides food and livelihoods for millions of people. Much of this common resource is managed by Community Fishery Organizations (CFi’s) – local fishers with a government mandate managing their local area to benefit their fishery resources. Unfortunately, Cambodian fishers are some of the country’s poorest and most marginalized people. And the majority of Cambodia’s CFi’s are dysfunctional. Establishing functional CFi’s requires significant community capacity building, as CFi’s face challenges with government registration, organizational capacity, financial literacy, planning and implementation. Conservation International’s community capacity building approach addresses these issues and we have successfully partnered with fourteen CFi’s who are active in managing their local fishery resources.