Rising Tonle Sap #1

Lim Sokchanlina engages with climate change and its impact on coastal communities living near the Tonle Sap River and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. These tributaries of the mighty Mekong River support various ecosystems and communities along their shores. During the monsoon season, when the Mekong is at its highest levels, it meets the Tonle Sap River in the heart of Phnom Penh, causing it to change direction – the only river in the world to do so – and forces the water back to the great Tonle Sap Lake that in turn feeds a dependent flood plain.

Spending weeks with different coastal communities on the Tonle Sap River, Lim was interested in exploring the diversity of the riverine ecosystems and was also keen to see how these communities understood the much-discussed issue of “climate change.” Lim’s Rising Tonle Sap, (2012) series was made only with great help from the various communities that transported large quantities of industrial blocks of ice to each location. The series illustrates how warming temperatures and rising water levels have already left their imprints on the coastal communities along the Tonle Sap River, leaving them most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.