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Globally and in Cambodia, we are witnessing an unprecedented environmental emergency – such as extreme and unpredictable weather events, and frequent natural disasters. The triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and air pollution, along with their connections to public health issues, the need to strengthen democracy, to tackle dis-/misinformation on digital platforms, among others, is posing an existential threat to the current and future generations.

This climate challenge is also a journalistic and information challenge. That’s why, every year, UNESCO Cambodia jointly celebrates international days that are as important as they are interconnected across the systematic pillars of climate change: water (22 March), bee (20 May), biological diversity (22 May), environment (5 June), and biosphere reserve (3 November), with a particular themed focus this year on the press freedom (3 May): A Press for the Planet.

Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna, and serves as the largest breeding ground for nearly 150 species of large water birds in ASEAN. It is one of the world’s most productive fisheries and plays a central role in the livelihoods and food security of over 4.6 million people who directly or indirectly depend on the Tonle Sap Lake. The lake’s ecosystem is linked to the Mekong River system through a unique and complex hydrological phenomenon, which causes natural reversal of the river’s flow on a regular seasonal basis. During the wet season, the surface area of the lake more than quadruples, and the water level in the lake increases to nearly ten times its depth in the dry season.

Recognizing its cultural, social, environmental, and economic significance to Cambodia, the Tonle Sap Lake and its surrounding area was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1997, and assigned as the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve through Royal Decree in 2001. As the lifeline of Cambodia, the TSBR plays a significant role in food security for and economic development of the country.

However, it is under increasing pressures from population growth, overfishing, infrastructural development, forest degradation, climate change, land cover changes, and pollution, including from unsustainable agricultural and industrial practices. Climate change projections for 2050 indicate that in Cambodia’s dry season, the maximum temperature will rise from 32°C to 35°C, and the main part of the dry season will become drier. This may lead to water stress on the TSBR wetlands. Future climate change projections also predict an increase in frequency and intensity of heavy rainstorms in TSBR. These predictions will alter Tonle Sap’s unique hydrological system, impacting water security and fishing productivity, and threatening the integrity of the massive wetland system, habitats, biodiversity, landscapes, and the overall sustainable development of the country.

Through the EU-funded TSBR Project of the CAPFISH-Capture programme, UNESCO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, development partners and relevant stakeholders, is working to strengthen the coordination of actors around the TSBR. Through this collaboration, a high-level TSBR Coordination Mechanism was established to provide a robust coordination architecture and platform to relevant stakeholders to enhance the management of the lake. This collaborative effort ensures sustainable management of the lake’s resources, benefiting both biodiversity and the livelihoods of local communities around the TSBR and fostering harmony between people and nature.

In addition, UNESCO is initiating the implementation of transboundary groundwater initiatives to enhance the transboundary groundwater governance, monitoring, and management in the Cambodia - Mekong River Delta Aquifer, a transboundary aquifer system connects the Tonle Sap and Mekong Delta, two ecosystems of global environmental significance and socio-economic importance. These initiatives aim to strengthen cooperation among all relevant actors to improve the sustainable use of ecosystem goods and services and strengthen the resilience of groundwater resources to climate change.

Bees are important pollinators for humankind to ensure food security with 75% of the world’s food crops depend on pollination, and as health, environmental and biodiversity sustenance. Through , it is found that two of the four Cambodian native honey bee species are present in the TSBR: the Asian giant honey bee, Apis dorsata, and the red dwarf honey bee, Apis florea. The abundant and diverse bee flora present in the TSBR generates successive blooms more or less throughout the year, and the extended swamp scrublands and flooded forest of TSBR provide favorable conditions to the development of sustainable beekeeping for apitourism and eco-tourism activities and livelihoods development.

Under the UNESCO x Guerlain Women for Bees program with a focus on women’s empowerment and the TSBR Project, UNESCO in partnership with the Ministry of Environment is fostering sustainable beekeeping practices and native bee conservation within Cambodia. By providing trainings on beekeeping with native bees via scientific pilot initiatives, UNESCO Cambodia equips local communities, particularly women, with the necessary beekeeping skills and knowledge while also raising awareness about the importance of native bee conservation and pollination services. In addition, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, a comprehensive Roadmap for Preparing a National Plan for Sustainable Beekeeping and Native Honey Bee Conservation in Cambodia was developed and will be finalized as a fundamental source for the development of a national plan.

UNESCO is also working with the Royal Government of Cambodia to identify natural and mixed sites for potential inclusion on the UNESCO designated areas including World Heritage, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks, to protect and promote the country’s rich natural resources.

Amid this global crisis, environmental journalism plays a key role in educating the public and bridge the public policy making processes by informing the public, especially those at the risk of being left behind and bear the brunt of climate change, to make informed decisions. Reporters and the media who cover environmental issues and its impact not only raise awareness among disengaged audiences who inattentively believe the climate crisis does not affect them, but also document and tell the stories of the marginalized communities who carry the heavy burden of a changing climate.

However, journalists and communicators covering environmental issues often encounter threats and violence due to the sensitive nature of their reporting. According to UNESCO’s latest global data in , at least 749 journalists and media outlets have been attacked while covering environmental issues in 89 countries between 2009 and 2023 – an average of fifty attacks per year, and in all regions of the world. These threats can include physical violence, surveillance, pressure, intimidation, and content moderation that restricts access to information. Whether they are investigating deforestation, pollution, or illegal logging, the remote and sensitive nature of these assignments adds a significant layer of risk, hindering them from the reach of immediate help or legal protection.

In Cambodia, UNESCO, with the support from Sweden and Australia, is working with all media stakeholders to foster a safe, free, pluralistic, and independent media environment conducive to greater freedom of expression in Cambodia, through convening dialogues and discussions, providing capacity building for media professionals and journalists and technical assistance for legislative support, and equipping citizens with the critical thinking skills and Media and Information Literacy needed to confront disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech. Read more click here 

To address this common challenge, we need collaborative efforts from all. We invite all journalists and media professionals in Cambodia to help raise public awareness of all aspects of the global environmental crisis and its consequences. Journalistic work is indispensable for this purpose, along with the recognition of various primary sources of information required for comprehensive, accurate, and historically grounded reporting.