Opportunities to improve the management of marine fisheries conservation areas through open data and public participation

On 29 December 2020, at the new office of Children and Women Development Center in Cambodia (CWDCC) in Kampot, Open Development Cambodia (ODC) conducted a focus group discussion on mapping information and data of saltwater community fisheries and conservative fisheries in Kampot and Kep.

Group photo of ODC team, representatives of 7 communities fisheries in Kampot province and CWDCC, Kampot province. Photo by Open Development Cambodia (ODC), taken on 29 December 2020.

The seminar was participated by seven representatives from four community fisheries, including Kampong Samkie Community, Trapeang Sangke Community, Kep Thmey Community, and Trapeang Ropouv Community. This seminar also signifies the kick-start of ODC’s collaboration with CWDCC in a project called “Securing access to and control over land and natural resources for vulnerable community fisheries in the coastal areas of Cambodia.” The project is financially sponsored by the European Union via ActionAid Cambodia, Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), and CWDCC.

Mr. THY Try, ODC Executive Director was giving welcoming remark to the community fisheries.

The seminar has three main objectives. First, it aims to introduce the “Conservative fisheries of Cambodia” page on the ODC’s website to the community fisheries and stakeholders in the targeted provinces. Secondly, it aims to gather inputs from the participants on the existing data and information on the website related to the coastal conservative fisheries and community fisheries. Thirdly, it aims to collect feedback from the participants to improve existing planning documents of resources of information and expand the pool of data on “Conservative fisheries and community fisheries” in the future for the benefits of the said community fisheries and associated institutions.

It started with the opening remarks from Mr. Thy Try, the Executive Director of ODC. In his remark, Mr. Try introduced the roles and objectives of ODC​ in this project. He also expressed his delight in ODC’s first collaboration with CWDCC as well as with the local communities in Kampot and Kep. Mr. Try​ said that ODC is determined to assist the communities to provide necessary data and information needed so that they can be thoroughly and inclusively informed. ODC strongly believes that its mission will encourage public engagement and better understanding between governmental institutions, citizens, and the private sector. Thus, it will lead to transparent and accountable environmental governance.

ODC interactive map of fisheries conservation areas, community fisheries and mangrove forest distribution in Cambodia

In the first session, Mr. Vong Pisith, the Senior Data Research and GIS Officer of ODC gave a brief guide over the official website of ODC. Up to date, ODC has collected a total of 128 fishery conservation areas all around Cambodia in which 118 of those are community fisheries. Among those communities, ODC can collect the Prakas of the registration of 6 community fisheries in Kampot. Mr. Pisith further explains several ODC’s operations such as the process of producing data before publishing it on the website, the process of searching for valid information to publish, as well as the instructions of how to navigate through the ODC website and get access to information which they need such as the Prakas and maps of their communities.

Ms. Pon Nhung, Deputy-chief of the Trapeang Ropouv community stated that the presentation is great as it had attentively provided new information and knowledge to the local communities. Since that is the first seminar, she cannot grasp the technical instructions of using the ODC website. She suggested that more seminars lectured by experts could be conducted in the future. Nevertheless, she expressed her elation in knowing that she now knows that she has the correct information in hand and where to search for it.

Mr. Sen Nos, Deputy-chief of Trapeang Sangkae Community, and Mr. Chan Seng, Committee Member of Kep Thmey Community also expressed their delight in participating in the first seminar. However, they also expressed similar concerns as they cannot grasp the technical aspect of the seminar. Thus, they proposed that ODC should provide more seminars in the future with more engagement from the younger generation inside their communities so that they​​​ will have the skill and knowledge sufficient to put the ODC website into good use.

In the last session, the participants were allocated into two small groups in which Mr. Try and Mr. Pisith facilitated each group. The two groups had a detailed discussion of three main questions such as the issues that the local community fisheries are currently facing, issues that the community fisheries have regarding data, and feedback on the ODC’s website. After the discussion, both groups selected a representative to present their findings and they found out that they shared similar issues and ideas.

Mr. Horn Rithy, Project Coordinator of CWDCC.

The community fisheries had faced several issues such as land management issues, fisheries crimes, waste management issues, lack of awareness of the public on the community fisheries, lack of cooperation between the authorities and other stakeholders, and lack of valid and correct data. Mr. Try said that he had learned a lot about the current situation of the fisheries community from the group discussion.

Mr. Horn Rithy, Project Coordinator of CWDCC expressed his happiness in collaborating with ODC. He said that this is the first page of the cooperation between CWDCC and ODC. He stated that the local communities had faced many challenges in regards to collecting data. He said that some information is difficult to search for, while some information is outdated.

Mr. Rithy also said that CWDCC lacks the technical skill to harvest data and put it into good use. He claimed that ODC will fulfill the gap in terms of providing data and technical assistance.

Some pictures of Trapeang Sangke Community Ecotourism located in Trapeang Sangke Village, Trapeang Sangke Commune, Teuk Chhou District, Kampot Province.