On 15th July 2021, UNESCO, in cooperation with the Civil Society Alliance Forum (CSAF) of the Office of Council of Ministers, in partnership with the Asian Cultural Council and the Asian Vision Institute, and the European Union, organized the virtual launch of the UNESCO Rapid Assessment: Beekeeping Ecosystem at Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. The first-of-its-kind initiative aims to promote sustainable beekeeping in Cambodia, for fostering biodiversity conservation, food security, eco-tourism development, and livelihoods development for local communities.
The Launch was presided by H.E. Yim Chhaily, Deputy Prime Minister and Chair of Chairman, Inter-Ministerial Committee for Coordinating the Implementation of “100 TECHO Villages” (ICCI.100). The event was addressed by H.E. Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism; H.E. Suos Yara, Director General, Asian Cultural Council; H.E. Chuop Paris, Director General of General Directorate of Environmental Knowledge and Information, Ministry of Environment; H.E. Carmen Moreno, EU Ambassador to Cambodia, and Mr. Sardar Umar Alam, UNESCO Representative to Cambodia. Ms. Angelina Jolie, Godmother of the UNESCO-Guerlain Women for Bees Programme delivered a message for the launch of the report.
More than 150 participants joined the virtual launch event of the Report, which has been produced in both the Khmer and English languages. Attendees included wide-ranging representatives from line ministries, embassies, development partners, associations, civil-society organizations, the private sector, researchers, media, and relevant national and international stakeholders.
The UNESCO Report is produced, as part of the UNESCO-Guerlain partnership, within the framework of UNESCO-LVMH five-year partnership initiated in 2019, to promote biodiversity conservation, sustainable beekeeping practices, and women’s empowerment, at UNESCO Biosphere Reserves around the world. It aims to promote sustainable beekeeping through training and capacity development, the creation of a network of beekeepers for exchange of knowledge and best practices, with a specific focus on women empowerment, and the monitoring of pollination benefits at UNESCO Biosphere Reserves around the world.
- The Khmer version of the Report can be downloaded: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000378197_khm
- The English version of the Report can be downloaded: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000378197
To know more about the report and its findings, please contact:
Mr. Sriharsha Masabathula, Associate Project Officer ([email protected](link sends e-mail)), and Mr. Sam Nissay, National Project Officer ([email protected](link sends e-mail)) at UNESCO Phnom Penh Office.