Southeast Asia’s largest waterbird colony, the 53,000 acre Prek Toal located near Tonlé Sap Lake in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance by the government of Cambodia. The area was under threat due to over harvesting of waterbird eggs and chicks until the government began working in close coordination with the MacArthur-supported Wildlife Conservation Society in 1999 to conserve the colony. The area now supports more than 50,000 breeding waterbirds of at least ten globally threatened species. Birdlife International, another MacArthur grantee, has been working with the government to create more protected sites since 2008. Prek Toal is the first new site declared in Cambodia in the last 16 years.
