At the very beginning of the CATCH MEKONG project a delegation from German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF visited one of the focus project regions - the Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia. A workshop jointly organized by German Aerospace Center, Royal University of Phnom Penh, and Southern Institute of Water Resource Research introduced the challenges the region is facing, as well as the specific research topics that will be focused on in this study region of the project. Later, a field excursion on the Tonle Sap lake gave an understanding of the above mentioned challenges regarding annual flood pulse, protection and sustainable management of natural resources such as water, forest, and fish e.g. to ensure food security for the local population, etc.
