Living over Water - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 245

loosening its tight grip on Iraq's water resources (European Parliament Member E.
Nicholson, personal communication).
It is not all bad news by any means, however. In recognition that the Tonle
Sap Great Lake is “one of the most significant environmental sites in Asia and
the world” (ADB 2005a), the area was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
based on its international importance for biodiversity and in containing the most
productive floodplains found anywhere (ADB 2005c). Biosphere reserves are
nominated by national governments and remain under their jurisdiction, and must
meet a minimal set of criteria and adhere to a minimal set of conditions before
being admitted to the UNESCO network (ADB 2002): “Each reserve is intended
to fulfill three complementary functions: (i) a conservation function (preserve
landscapes, ecosystems, species, and genetic variation); (ii) a development func-
tion (foster sustainable economic and human development); and (iii) a logistic
function (support demonstration projects, environmental education and train-
ing, and research and monitoring related to local, national, and global issues of
conservation and sustainable development).” The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve
(TSBR) covers the entire lake and a significant portion of the floodplain and con-
tains three management typologies: core zones, which are securely protected
sites; a clearly identified buffer zone; and a flexible transition zone (ADB 2002;
Anonymous 2004).
The core areas are for conserving biodiversity, monitoring minimally disturbed
ecosystems, and undertaking nondestructive research and other low-impact uses such
as education (ADB 2002). There are three such areas in the TSBR, two identified
for bird-feeding areas and a unique canopy forest, but only the Prek Toal Core Area
and its bird colonies are protected to any real degree (Anonymous 2004). The buffer
zone usually surrounds or adjoins core areas, and is used for cooperative activities
deemed compatible with sound ecological practices, such as environmental educa-
tion, recreation, ecotourism, and research (ADB 2002). In the TSBR, this is an area
of about 540,000 ha. Transition zones are areas in which existing stakeholders work
together in a suite of economic and other activities designed to manage and sustain-
ably develop the biosphere's natural resources (ADB 2002). For the TSBR, this is an
area of about 900,000 ha.
The Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, located in the northwest corner of the lake, is the
last haven for large waterbirds in Southeast Asia (Bailleux 2003; Evans, Marschke,
and Paudyal 2005; Goes 2005) and includes endangered species such as spot-billed
pelicans and greater adjutant storks. Several companies operate tours to the Prek
Toal Core Area. Cars pick up tourists from their hotels in the early morning and drive
them to the harbor at Chong Kneas, where they embark on a boat that crosses the
lake and enters the flooded forest of the reserve in time for the sunrise (Figure 14.18).
There, the small boats make their way inside the labyrinthine waterways among the
flooded forest to reach several observation towers from which the colonies of mas-
sive pelicans and storks can be seen atop their gray, guano-stained rookeries. It is
also not uncommon to come across monkeys jumping from tree to tree as well as
other wildlife such as large otters that resemble Midj, the famous one-time resident
of the Iraqi marshes (Maxwell 1967).