For more than three decades, Choum Vanna has worked to protect fisheries and natural resources around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake. Based in Prek Khpob Village, Battambang Province, she helps manage 1 915 hectares of conservation land, including a four-hectare conservation lake. Her activities include reporting environmental offences, organizing patrols, restoring lakes and planting flooded forest trees and edible wild plants. Since 2018, she has also served as chairperson of her community, linking environmental stewardship with local livelihoods and social support.

The story traces Vanna’s involvement in a fish-processing cooperative established initially to support widows, as well as her efforts to promote natural crop production, poultry raising and traditional knowledge on low-cost natural fertilizers. These experiences also reveal constraints facing community initiatives. Some households have prioritized immediate sources of income over fish processing, while Vanna has faced political accusations linked to her community organizing. She also identifies the erosion of traditional knowledge among younger generations as a growing concern.

Vanna’s work extends to livelihood assistance, gender-based violence and support for families displaced during the Thailand–Cambodia border conflict. Her experience illustrates how community-led natural resource management can connect fisheries conservation, livelihood diversification, knowledge transmission and social solidarity. It also highlights the central role that women can play in maintaining ecosystems and community institutions under economic and social pressure.