Travel Location: Battambang

Prek Toal Ecotourism Site was established in 1999 under support from a NGO called Osmose. Prek Toal is a floating village with a bird sanctuary. Visitors can go on guided trips by trained SVC (Sam Veasna Center) bird guides and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) rangers to watch birds and learn about them. In addition to that, paddle boat tours through the floating village are being offered to see crocodile and fish rising farms and many more interesting things. There is also the special opportunity to stay overnight in the Environmental Research Station.
Prek Toal, Battambang is a protected eco-system regarded as the single most important breeding ground for globally threatened large waterbirds in South East Asia, and is located at the confluence of the Tonle Sap lake and the Sangker River, about halfway along the boat trip between Siem Reap and Battambang. The site is an ornithologists dream as every year from January to June, as the lake’s water level recedes, flocks of migratory storks, adjutants, pelicans, ibises, cormorants, and more come to nest in the surrounding flooded forest. Over 120 species of water and forest birds have been recorded, among which are 15 endangered species such as the greater adjutant and the masked finfoot. However, there is more to the experience than just bird watching, the floating village of Prek Toal has set up a community tourism project. Here you can learn about the lives of the people who lead an entirely aquatic existence.