The flooded forest
This is most important for the villagers who live on the water, because the forests provides a barrier from strong wind, big waves and they enable support and stability for the houses with cables tied to the trees. The flooded forest also provides a safe nesting ground for the unique water birds and fish.
Fire devastated the Prek Toal village and forest In April 2016. There was a lot of damage from a large forest fire of 7000 hectares, affecting many places in the flooded forests around the lake, especially around Prek Toal village, in which houses were severely burnt.
The fires continued to burn for months. There had never been a fire such as this and people were very unprepared. Not only had their village been badly affected their whole future livelihood had been taken away.
So what can we do?
The Greening Prek Toal Project is focused on planting and growing trees in the large area that was burnt, with villagers providing support in Prek Toal. This project aims to keep the unique environment green and also create a sustainable economic and natural environment for the current and future community.