Scientists call for end to large-scale rice farming in Cambodia

Updated 19 March 2013, 

Radio Australia

 

Environmental scientists are calling for a stop to commercial rice farms being granted huge swathes of land in Cambodia, as one way to protect tropical flooded grasslands and the species that depend on them.

Scientists call for end to large-scale rice farming in Cambodia (Credit: ABC) 

These grasslands surround Cambodia's giant inland lake, the Tonle Sap and are important habitats for birds, fish, animals and for low-intensity farming land for locals.

But increasingly the Cambodian Government has handed over these grasslands to big companies for large-scale rice farming, drastically changing the nature of the ecosystem.

Several conservation organisations have studied the impact on the grasslands since 1995 and say almost half has been lost and the damage continues.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane

Speaker: Dr Charlotte Packman, school of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Britain

Listen to audio here.