Cambodia
Capital:
Phnom Penh
Land Area:
176,515km²
Inland Water Area:
4,520km²
Length of Coastline:
435km
Cambodia has implemented the ICM framework along 100% of its 435km coastline, covering the four coastal provinces of Kampot, Kep, Koh Kong, and Preah Sihanouk. The Government of Cambodia has established a national ICM scaling up program that promotes ICM as a national approach to sustainably manage coastal and marine resources in the country. The ocean and water resources are important to Cambodia and Cambodians. The fisheries sector is the fourth-largest employer in Cambodia, employing about 385,000 people in 2007. It is also the fourth-biggest contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Cambodian ICM implementation is founded on over a decade of experience on ICM implementation at the national ICM demonstration site in Preah Sihanouk, which began in 2001. ICM implementation in Preah Sihanouk covers 176km of coastline and 2,397km2 land area. Through a learning-by-doing approach that encourages local capacity development, ICM is providing practical solutions to coastal and marine management issues, benefiting over 200,000 stakeholders in the Province.
The ICM Program in Preah Sihanouk is addressing a variety of issues including: pollution reduction and waste management in Sangkat 4 through a community-driven waste collection and a micro-credit facility for sanitation facilities; livelihood management and sustainable coastal tourism in Occheuateal Beach; water use and supply management in Stung Hav District; and habitat protection and management of about 1,060ha of mangrove areas in Otress and Tomnob Rolok, Stung Hav and Kompong Smach, Prey Nup Districts. In 2016, motivated by the socio economic and environmental gains from the effective management of Preah Sihanouk, the other three coastal provinces started implementing their own provincial ICM programs.
Other sustainable efforts by the Royal Government of Cambodia include: (1) implementation of the Gulf of Thailand (GOT) Regional Framework Programme for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response; (2) implementation of the Port Safety Health and Environmental Management Systems in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville Autonomous Ports ; (3) preparation of Cambodia’s State of the Ocean and Coasts Report and; (4) development of on-the-ground activities addressing climate change and disaster risk reduction, habitat protection and restoration, water use and supply management, and pollution reduction and waste management under the broader ICM management framework of coastal provinces.
Focal Points:
H.E. Thay Chantha (Principal National Focal Point)
Deputy Secretary General of the National Committee for Cambodian Coastal Management and Development and Concurrent Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Protected Areas in the Ministry of Environment (MoE)
Mr. Roath Sith (Alternate National Focal Point)
Deputy Director-General, General Directorate of Environmental Protection, MoE
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
2025 MEP Program Planning Workshop
The planning workshop for the 2025 Marine Environment Protector (MEP) Program was conducted on 18-19 March 2025 at Parañaque, Philippines and brought together representatives from MEP partner organizations across six Philippine sites.
Representatives from the four existing MEP program sites presented their 2024 accomplishments and shared lessons learned from implementation. The workshop also served as an introduction for new MEP partners from Bulan and Calbayog who will begin implementation in 2025.
The participants discussed various campaigns and identified effective practices that could be applied across different sites. Together, they drafted comprehensive work plans and timelines aligned with the 2025 implementation guidelines established by the Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU).
The two-day workshop successfully established target outputs for 2025 implementation and developed strategies to effectively impact local communities in their respective sites. Participants focused on ensuring engagement and full support of their respective local government units for proposed marine plastic waste management initiatives.
Proceedings of the 1st Blue Carbon Technical Working Group Meeting
The First Blue Carbon Technical Working Group meeting was held on February 25, 2025, online via video conference (Zoom). The meeting was chaired by the Technical Session Chair and Co-Chair of the East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council (PC) and participated by PEMSEA country partner designated representatives from China and the Philippines; non-country partner representatives from the National Marine Hazard Mitigation Service (NMHMS), Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF), Conservation International (CI), Korean Maritime Institute (KMI); PNLC members, Xiamen University, University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI); and other collaborators, such as the China Green Carbon Foundation and OceanPixel.
PEMSEA eBulletin - February 2025
Dear PEMSEA community,
As we step into a new month, we are thrilled to share some remarkable milestones and collaborative efforts that highlight PEMSEA’s ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability.
The month began with PEMSEA receiving recognition from the DENR-EMB for the strong collaboration particularly through the MOF/PEMSEA ODA Marine Plastics Project in the Philippines. In the Arafura and Timor Seas, representatives from Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste came together in Australia to tackle the ghost net crisis.
Discover how the IRBM Project is fostering transparency and accountability with its new Grievance Redress Mechanism, empowering voices to be heard. Learn more about the data-driven efforts in the Philippines and Timor-Leste, where beach monitoring is shaping policies to tackle marine plastics.
And don’t miss the update from PEMSEA’s inaugural Blue Carbon Technical Working Group meeting, where stakeholders across the region came together to advance the Blue Carbon Roadmap and set the direction of the program.