RESEARCH ACCOUNT
What Cambodia’s turtle action plan records about historical sightings
Ouk Vibol, Me’ira Mizrahi and Kate West / Fisheries Administration
2010 fisher survey and 2015 interviews recalling 2005–2015; action-plan period 2016–2026.
What the research found
- The action plan reports 233 recalled turtle-sighting events from 120 participants across the four coastal provinces, covering 2005–2015. These are not 233 independently confirmed turtles. PDF p.7
- A 2010 survey of 66 fishers is reported as including green, hawksbill, olive ridley, loggerhead and leatherback turtles. Species identifications and sightings were interview reports. PDF p.6
- The plan explicitly warns that the sighting map cannot provide an accurate estimate of species abundance. PDF p.7
How the evidence was collected
The action plan summarises earlier fisher interviews and historical records. Its 2015 sighting map aggregates recollections into grid sections across four coastal provinces; these are reported sighting events, not independently identified individual turtles. PDF p.6 · PDF p.7
Reported measurements
Historical interview evidence
| Survey | People | What the record means |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 66 | Fishers reporting species sightings |
| 2015 | 120 | Participants recalling 233 sighting events over 2005–2015 |
Different surveys and recall periods; these totals are not a population time series.
Interpretation and uncertainty
- The map is historical interview evidence and does not locate current nesting or foraging populations.
- The figure caption cites McNamara et al. 2015 while the surrounding text cites 2016; the underlying report identity requires reconciliation.
- The plan period and proposed conservation targets do not demonstrate that the targets were achieved.
Original report
Read the original report · Publisher / archive copy · Download these findings (JSON)
Coverage of this account
The historical distribution and habitat sections were examined. The full action matrix, budget, legal appendix and Khmer edition have not yet been reviewed.
- Underlying interview records and the full cited McNamara survey have not been reconciled in this account.
- Action-plan matrix, budget, legal appendix and Khmer edition remain outside this extraction.