Mekong basin News

RSS
100 stories
Fishers in the Mekong River near Chiang Khong, Thailand. Elevated arsenic levels at testing sites in the Mekong indicate that contamination may be spreading into this vital waterway. Image by Stefan Lovgren.

Dangerous arsenic levels detected in Thailand’s Mekong mainstream for first time

Gerald Flynn 8 May 2026
During prolonged floods, many residents of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta are unable to grow and harvest crops. NGOs have stepped in to help with basic food supplies and cash during times of crisis. Image courtesy of Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center.

The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system

Petro Kotzé 6 May 2026
Fishers collect their nets on the Sesan River, just a few hundred meters from the O’Ta Bouk-Sesan confluence. Fishers who use the O’Ta Bouk told Mongabay that their catches have declined significantly over the past three years. Photo by Andy Ball/Mongabay.

Cambodia tested waters amid pollution claims; months later, still no public results

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 4 May 2026
The Golden dorado (Salminus brasiliensis), a powerful migratory freshwater fish native to the Pantanal and Paraná River Basin, shown here being held by researcher Zeb Hogan. Highly prized by recreational anglers and important to commercial fisheries, the species has declined in parts of its range due to dam construction.

Migratory freshwater fish are in trouble: Will we act in time to save them?

Stefan Lovgren 1 May 2026
Most of Chi’s annual income comes from selling apricot blossoms — a symbol of luck and prosperity in Vietnam — around Lunar New Year.

Saline intrusion in Mekong Delta leaves farmers and scientists at odds

Minh L Tran 30 Apr 2026
Farmers sow rice in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

A nature-based solution to save the Mekong Delta’s water future (commentary)

Pham Phan Long 26 Mar 2026
Researcher Lisiane Hahn and colleagues have tagged and released piraíba fitted with tracking devices, generating new data that reveal previously undocumented migrations of this South American species. Image courtesy of Lisiane Hahn.

325 Long-neglected migratory freshwater fish species need protection now: Report

Stefan Lovgren 25 Mar 2026
Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia.

The promise and perils of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement (commentary)

Pham Phan Long 10 Mar 2026

Cambodian market survey a snapshot of a resilient — but stressed — Mekong

Stefan Lovgren 10 Mar 2026
Fishers in Takeo province rely on the annual flooding of wetlands where they raise and catch a variety of crustaceans. Image by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay.

Farmers fear displacement, drought, flooding tied to Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal

Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 12 Feb 2026
Community members gather as a tagged Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) is prepared for release in the Cambodian stretch of the Mekong River.

Earth’s freshwater fish face harsh new climate challenges, researchers warn

Stefan Lovgren 17 Dec 2025
A woman gathers plants along the banks of the Mekong River while a child plays in the background. Water levels of the mighty Mekong River have dropped drastically due to drought-like conditions and damming upstream. The drop disrupts the region’s water supply, transport routes, and the livelihood of communities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that more than one billion people will face water shortages due to climate change. Credit: © Greenpeace / Vinai Dithajohn

New mapping reveals hidden mining boom in Laos that threatens the Mekong

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Konlaphat Siri 10 Dec 2025
Satellite imagery from February 2025 shows the transformation of the landscape at Global Green's gold mine, which is believed to be contaminating the O'Ta Bouk River. Image provided by Google Earth, Maxar Technologies.

Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 24 Nov 2025
Flowing from Myanmar into Thailand, the Kok River carries toxic runoff from rare earth mines into Chiang Mai province. Image supplied by Brian Eyler.

More Thai rivers and downstream communities at risk from Myanmar’s rare earth mines

Mongabay 20 Oct 2025
In just a few months, Global Green have cleared vast swathes of forest in Prey Lang, opening the northern section of the wildlife sanctuary up to more potential deforestation. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024

Gerald Flynn 6 Oct 2025
A 1.72-meter (5.6-foot), 102-kilogram (225-pound) Mekong giant barb caught in Tonle Sap Lake in December, 2002.

Shrinking Mekong megafish underlines risks to the river, study finds

Anton L. Delgado 26 Aug 2025
A fisher casts a small fishing net to catch fish for his family outside Phnom Penh, 2024.

Displaced and dispossessed, Cambodia’s ethnic Cham fishers struggle to survive

Daniel Zak, Vutha Srey 7 Aug 2025
The sun rises on the Salween River, which serves as a vital lifeline for Karen communities on both sides of the Thai-Myanmar border. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Asia’s longest free-flowing river faces threats of dams and diversions

Mongabay.com 6 Aug 2025
Boats sporting "No Dam" parade down the Salween River along the Thai-Myanmar border in March 2025. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Specter of dams and diversion looms over Southeast Asia’s Salween River

Gerald Flynn 19 Jun 2025

Rare earth rush in Myanmar blamed for toxic river spillover into Thailand

Stefan Lovgren 9 Jun 2025
A fish release conducted for a recent study on fish migrations in the Mekong River.

Vital Mekong fish corridors tracked for first time, but funding cuts threaten future research

Anton L. Delgado 18 Apr 2025
The 2024 paper proposes Leopardus pardinoides, or the clouded tiger cat, as a new species. This small wildcat is found in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, south to Panama, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Image courtesy of Johanes Pfleiderer. Article title - A tiger cat gains new species designation, but conservation challenges remain

Photos: Top new species from 2024

Liz Kimbrough 26 Dec 2024
Protesters in Thailand

Thai citizens protest plans for Mekong dam amid transboundary concerns

Carolyn Cowan 10 Dec 2024
Flooding in Thailand

Record-breaking floods in northern Thailand intensify scrutiny of Mekong dam project

Carolyn Cowan 24 Sep 2024
A fisherman feeds his net into the Mekong River on the Thai-Lao border by Chiang Saen.

On heavily dammed Mekong, tracking study tries to find where the fish are going

Anton L. Delgado 24 Jul 2024
Farming in Myanmar

Will the Mekong and Salween pay the price of China’s energy transition?

Carolyn Cowan 22 May 2024
Xayaburi Dam

Banks backing Mekong hydropower failing on due diligence, report reveals

Carolyn Cowan 20 May 2024
Mekong River

Hydropower in doubt as climate impacts Mekong Basin water availability

Carolyn Cowan 21 Feb 2024

Landmark report on migratory species underlines threats to Asia’s wildlife

Anton L. Delgado 12 Feb 2024

‘The police are watching’: In Mekong countries, eco defenders face rising risks

Hướng Thiện 18 Dec 2023
Rice farmers in Vietnam

Dam-building on Mekong poses risk to regional industries, report says

Carolyn Cowan 8 Nov 2023
A dismembered tree in Chhaeb-Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary documented in April 2023. Image by Andy Ball / Mongabay.

Communities track a path of destruction through a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary

Gerald Flynn, Andy Ball, Meng Kroypunlok 9 Oct 2023

you're currently offline