SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

7 - FisheriesFourteen plant species from secondary scrubland provide most of the firewood for local communitiesaround the Tonle Sap Great Lake. Particular species are usually preferred for special uses. Forexample toau (Terminalia cambodiana) is preferred by veteran fish smokers because of the aromait gives to the fish. 157In the Boeung Thom area, household cooking consumed an average of 8-10 m 3 meters of firewoodper family per year. Additionally, about 5 percent of all households from villages within 10 km ofthe lake carry out small processing activities requiring wood. About 90 percent of this firewooddemand is supplied by shrubs and trees from Boeung Thom flooded forest. 158The annual firewood supply from Beoung Thom flooded forest is estimated to be 62,000 m 3 /yearfor nearby communities, with a value of over $150,000. The cost to lowland families if they had tobuy highland firewood would be about $40 per household per year – a very high amount for familieswhose annual income is usually less than $300 per year.4.2.3 Materials for construction tools and craftsNative plants from wetlands provide materials for houseposts, floor planks, roof thatching, beam ties, etc.Diospyros Cambodiana (ptual) is preferred for housestilts and posts. Impomoea obscura, Stenocaulon kleiniiand Derris laotica are used in tying beams off, securingroof thatching, and fixing fish traps and nets.Poorer villagers close to the shores of Beoung ThomLake use sedge (coarse marsh grasses) harvested fromalong lakeshore streams and channels for roofing andwalling their houses. A 4 x 5 metre house uses up to15 m 3 of sedge for a roof and walls, which must bereplaced every two years.Stems and branches of wetland plants also provide otherbasic rural household goods and farming tools,including handles for knives, axes, hoes, spades, rakes,sickles, ploughs and harrowing tools. Strings madefrom sedge are widely used to tie newly-harvestedbundles of rice stems before they were transportedhome for drying and threshing.Wetland plants are used for many householdpurposes, including making fish trapsStems and branches of wetland trees and shrubs are alsoused for making pig stables, chicken houses and fences for home vegetable gardens. Branches arecommonly used to make supports in gardens for climbing plants such as cucumbers, string beans andwax gourds. Barringtonia branches are piled up in the shallows of lakes to make brush parks forfishing (samrah). This tangle of submerged branches can later be fenced and the fish easily caught.This method of fishing is, however, illegal in some Lower Mekong countries.Water hyacinth and sedges are also used by many rural families to produce craft items for incomegeneration. These plants are harvested and dried, and their dyed fibre used to make craft items.The softer and finer fibre of water hyacinth is woven into accessories such as hats, wallets,purses, jewellery boxes, and baskets. The durable fibre of sedge is woven to make floor andplace mats.131