About Tonle Sap Lake

Tonle Sap Lake in General

• Tonle Sap Great Lake, in central Cambodia, is the largest natural lake in southeast Asia

• The size of the lake varies seasonally, expanding from in the dry 2,5000 km2 season to 15,000 km2 in the wet season.

Figure 1. Location map for Tonle Sap Lake, indicating the extent of permanent inundation and the seasonal inundation area (Campbell et.al, 2006)

• The direction of flow in the lake also changes twice per year. The lake receives water from the Mekong River via the Tonle Sap River during wet season causing the water level in the lake to rise and discharges the water back into the Mekong River in dry season. Figure 2 shows the water level in the lake recorded from 1992 to 2001.

Figure 2. Water level throughout the season collected year 1992-2001 (Sukkla et al., 2003)

Value of Tonle Sap Lake

•The Tonle Sap Lake is a fascinating system of great intrinsic value, and of great economic and cultural value to the people of Cambodia. Figure 2 illustrates the importance of the lake.

Figure 3: Value of Tonle Sap Lake

Problems in Tonle Sap Lake

• Human population growth in the basin, over harvesting of aquatic resources and the possible impacts of hydrological changes in the Mekong River are the three most pressing threats to the Tonle Sap lake ecosystem.

• Sedimentation is another concern in this lake.

• It is of serious concern that Tonle Sap may be impacted by developments initiated in countries outside Cambodia.