Prek Toal Battambang

Prek Toal Battambang is a protected eco-system regarded as the single most important breeding ground for globally threatened large waterbirds in South East Asia, and is located at the confluence of the Tonle Sap lake and the Sangker River, about halfway along the boat trip between Siem Reap and Battambang.

The site is an ornithologists dream as every year from January to June, as the lake’s water level recedes, flocks of migratory storks, adjutants, pelicans, ibises, cormorants, and more come to nest in the surrounding flooded forest. Over 120 species of water and forest birds have been recorded, among which are 15 endangered species such as the greater adjutant and the masked finfoot. However, there is more to the experience than just bird watching, the floating village of Prek Toal has set up a community tourism project. Here you can learn about the lives of the people who lead an entirely aquatic existence.

Several hundred families live on the water in houseboats or houses built on bamboo rafts. Homes are served by floating shops, floating barbers, floating petrol stations, in fact all the amenities of any village on land, yet floating. The only buildings on stilts (more than 10m high) are the pagoda, the spirit house, and the school. In the past a threat to the area was large scale egg and chick collection by villages, however since the introduction of the community tourism project and the realisation that economically the birds are worth more alive this has stopped and 7 bird species have been saved from extinction.