James Reddick / Khmer Times / June 16, 2016
Every afternoon and evening in this floating village just north of the Tonle Sap, Kuy An looks out at the clouds of smoke rising ominously in every direction.
Everything here in Prek Toal Village and neighboring Anlong Taour depends on water, and the effects of a year with too little of it are wreaking havoc on the floodplains of the lake. Fishing yields are down, the water is at historic lows and the flooded forest is on fire.
“In 60 years, I’ve never seen the water this low,” says Kuy An, who was born in Anlong Taour Village. Over the last decade or so, fishermen on the Tonle Sap have noted falling fish yields, but this year’s El Nino has created a literal firestorm that is likely to impact the area for years to come.
Kuy An and his son Hoksan, who runs a tourism company that brings visitors to the village, lead us up to a viewing platform to survey the landscape.
With the exception of the village below, a tightly packed collection of wooden and tin homes on the river, scrubby forest extends on all sides. To the southeast, the trees eventually give way to the Tonle Sap, the massive “beating heart” of Cambodia. In the rainy season, all of this will be flooded, but so far this year it is bone dry.
As has been happening since early April, flames are beginning to shoot up in the mid-afternoon heat. From our vantage point we can see three separate fires spewing smoke.
The villagers have been pumping and spraying water when the flames get too close, and they have cut back the brush on the riverbanks that lead up to the homes.
Still, last month one of the homes in the village was destroyed by fire, and Kuy An is clearly uncomfortable with the ever-present smoke. He also fears the long-term impact.
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