Two Years on, Sesan’s Ethnic Communities Attempt to Restart Their…

VOA – Fut Kheun has been keeping a close watch on the water levels at the Sesan II reservoir, in the remote Srekor commune of Stung Treng province. The ethnic Kreung villager is living close to the water at the reservoir, two years after ethnic minority communities were forced from their homes to make way for the 400MW Sesan Dam reservoir. Fut Kheun’s family is among the 60 that have Read More…

Critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins and the world’s most…

WWF – In a significant step forward for nature and communities that depend on the mighty Mekong River, the Cambodian government has abandoned plans to build the Sambor hydropower dam and has put a 10-year moratorium on any new dams on the Mekong mainstem. The Mekong River, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam to the South China Read More…

Rice fields, Vietnam

European Space Agency – The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over part of the Mekong Delta – a major rice-producing region in southwest Vietnam. In Vietnam, rice has been a strategic crop for national food security. Vietnam is the fifth largest producer of rice in the world, the majority of which is grown in the Mekong Delta – a vast flood plain and one of Asia’s most fertile Read More…

Choked by Dams and Climate Change, the Mekong River Is on ‘Life…

World Politics Review – As societies around the world focus on containing the spread of the novel coronavirus, millions of people in Southeast Asia have another worry on their minds: How to put food on their table amid a devastating drought. In Thailand, historically low levels of rainfall since last summer have taken a heavy toll on the agriculture sector, which employs 11 million Read More…

New Aquatic Nature Reserve Protects Critically Endangered River…

Rainforest Trust – The Irrawaddy Dolphin is technically an oceanic species, living along the coasts of Asia. But the dolphins also live in three river systems — the Mekong, the Irrawaddy and the Mahakam. And these freshwater populations are under greater threat than the oceanic populations. While the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the global Irrawaddy Dolphin Read More…

Thai Activists Protest New Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong

VOA – It’s been more than 40 years since Bula Tawan first cast his fishing net out across the Mekong River when the waterway was rich in marine life. But the days of big catches have disappeared for most fishermen like Tawan, who once relied on the big hauls to earn a living and feed his family. “The water and the color have changed because when the water was natural it was not Read More…

China’s ‘Development Approach’ to the Mekong Water Disputes

The Diplomat – Even as COVID-19 is wreaking havoc and uncertainty around the globe, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta declared an emergency over the devastating drought in early March. Studies suggest that the frequency and severity of droughts in the Mekong region has increased in the past decades, and many blame upstream dams, particularly those in China, for exacerbating the droughts. For years Read More…

Women, rivers and water: a closely connected theme

VN Express – Women and girls represent over half of the Mekong region's population, and it is about time that their role received adequate attention. This March we commemorate International Women’s Day (8th), the International Day of Actions for Rivers (14th) and World Water Day (WWD on 22nd). These annual events and the WWD theme this year "Nature and Climate Change" is a timely Read More…

Cambodia halts mainstream Mekong River dam plans for 10 years,…

Reuters – Electricity-starved Cambodia will not develop new hydropower dams on the Mekong River for the next 10 years, a senior energy official said on Wednesday, as it reviews its policy to seek energy from coal, natural gas and solar. The decision means that neighboring Laos, which has opened two new dams on the mainstream Mekong in the past six months, is the only country in the Lower Read More…

Thousands expected to join river cleaning drive

The Phnom Penh Post – The Ministry of Tourism and Let’s Do It World on Thursday announced a campaign to clear rubbish from Cambodian riverbanks. Clean City Department director Huot Rithy called on citizens to join the campaign, which will begin on Friday in front of the Royal Palace. He said it was important to have clean rivers, particularly as the country prepares to hold the sixth Read More…