Effective Water Management for Landscape Management in the Siem Reap Catchment, Cambodia

Abstract

International awareness of the world-renowned Angkor Wat temple complex has drawn attention to the challenges of climate change, deforestation, and water management in Cambodia. The aim of this chapter is to examine the benefits of enhanced water management provided within Angkor Archaeological Park, and to consider challenges to maintaining those benefits. The Authority for the Protection of the Site and Management of the Region of Angkor (APSARA) designed and in 2014–2018 implemented within the Park a water management project to recharge groundwater supplies, mitigate floods, and provide irrigation. To assess the benefits, we draw on an economic analysis of ecosystem service changes, including interviewing 145 households from across the Park and four experts. To assess challenges to sustaining the benefits, we also interviewed 73 households and conducted 12 focus group discussions in the upper catchment. We used a combination of quantitative analysis (i.e. economic assessment) and qualitative data analysis (e.g. thematic analysis). Our analyses of data from people living in and around the Park showed that improved water management (e.g. reinforcing dykes and storage facilities for groundwater recharge) and investment in economic diversification (e.g. tourism, horticulture, and heritage crops projects) reduced vulnerability of the people to climate hazards. Currently, these benefits are threatened by forest loss in the upper Siem Reap catchment. Our analysis of data from the upper catchment showed that forest loss also resulted in detrimental effects to human health and well-being, and was associated with higher food insecurity. Solutions are suggested to enhance nature-based employment opportunities and promote economic diversification. This would extend the scope of management of this socio-ecological production landscape (SEPL) beyond the Park and ensure its sustainability by improving the health and well-being of the people living in the upper catchment.