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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
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
A farmer in south-central Bangladesh uses an axial flow pump to irrigate his rice field.

Bangladesh struggles to choose between food security & stable groundwater table

Abu Siddique 30 Apr 2026
Pa Haw, father of Saw Si Paw, takes to the Salween River each morning to inspect their nets for fish, despite heavy metal contamination linked to mining sites upstream. Photo by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay.

Asia’s longest free-flowing river contaminated by arsenic linked to Myanmar mines

Gerald Flynn 20 Apr 2026
The King River enters Macquarie Harbour, where decades of mining have contributed to contaminated sediment buildup at the river’s delta. Image by Stefan Lovgren.

In Tasmania, the mines have closed but the rivers remember

Stefan Lovgren 16 Apr 2026

In Brazil, unfinished water project leaves Indigenous villages without safe water

Felipe Medeiros, Adriana Amâncio 14 Apr 2026

Afghanistan’s capital is in the grip of a water crisis

Associated Press 14 Apr 2026
The only water left for human and livestock to share in Berano Wereda, Homay Kebele of Ethiopia's Somali region. Image by © FAO/Michael Tewelde.

‘Sharing is off the table’ as drought reshapes the culture of Ethiopia’s pastoralists

Kaleab Girma 1 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
Tourists visit the Kusuma Bangsa Park in Nusantara. Image by Niken Sitoningrum/Mongabay Indonesia.

Indonesia court orders release of withheld impact studies on new capital

Niken D. Sitoningrum 19 Mar 2026
The construction site of Bridge Data Centre's 0.2 GW QHI01 data center in Khlong Tamru subdistrict, Chonburi province, Thailand. Photo by Andy Ball/Mongabay.

Thai data center boom sparks fears of water shortage, air pollution

Gerald Flynn 11 Mar 2026
Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) conducting an operation to combat illegal gold mining in Indigenous territory in the state of Pará, Brazil.

Mining rush for critical minerals threatens Amazon land reform settlements

Sam Cowie, Cícero Pedrosa Neto, Isabel Harari 9 Mar 2026

Seven years after Brazil’s worst dam disaster, mining operations bounce back

Felipe S. Duran, Mylena Melo 16 Feb 2026
Ningsih is about to add chlorine to the "Gentong Mas Santun" septic tank, which functions to inhibit the growth of and eliminate bacteria and microbes in feces.

On Indonesia’s longest river, a Borneo community passes crucial public health milestone

Anggita Raissa 29 Dec 2025
A sewage outlet in Bangkok.

Marine heat waves and raw sewage combine to put human health at risk

Sean Mowbray 18 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
Tourists Bharat Lake Nepal

New riverside lake in Nepal wins hearts, but faces government opposition

Suresh Bidari 28 Nov 2025
Fledglings of Lesser Adjutant in the Parsa-Koshi Complex. Image by Hem Bahadur Katuwal.

Bird diversity drops in human-dominated habitats, Nepal study suggests

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 26 Nov 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
Pastoralists in Lesotho.

Lesotho communities allege greenwashing by project transferring water to South Africa

Malavika Vyawahare 21 Nov 2025
A woman in her 60s fills empty jerrycans in a wheelbarrow with water she draws from an old well in Tallo village, Makassar.

Makassar women press for water as taps and wells run dry in sweltering Indonesian city

Sri Wahyuni 20 Nov 2025
Producing an AI chip requires 10-15 times more energy than making a standard chip.

AI data center revolution sucks up world’s energy, water, materials

Gerry McGovern, Sue Branford 14 Nov 2025

Study finds deforestation fuels West Africa’s water crisis

David Akana 7 Nov 2025
A boy kicks a soccer ball near signage for the COP30 U.N. Climate Conference in Belem, Brazil, March 23, 2025. Image by AP Photo/Jorge Saenz.

Belém faces its social and natural demons as host to COP30

Peter Speetjens 28 Oct 2025
A yurt with solar panels in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.

How to clean solar panels in arid areas? Waterless systems could improve efficiency

Samuel Ogunsona 24 Oct 2025
Farmers gather at Bhimruli guava market for selling their produces.

Guava yields in South Asia shrink due to unpredictable heat & rainfall

Sadiqur Rahman 20 Oct 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
An elk in the Rocky Mountains, where the headwaters of the Colorado River lie. Image courtesy of Fin and Fur Films.

‘We can have abundant rivers and wildlife’: Director of ‘The American Southwest’ on new film

John Cannon 15 Oct 2025
In February, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised planned investments by Vale during a public event in Pará state, urging the company to ensure dam safety. Image courtesy of Ricardo Stuckert/Presidência da República.

Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas

André Schröder 14 Oct 2025

Indonesia’s giant Java seawall plan sparks criticism & calls for alternatives

Basten Gokkon 11 Sep 2025
Workers perform maintenance next to pools of brine slowly turning into lithium at the Albemarle lithium mine in Chile's Atacama desert. Photo by: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd.

Lithium mining leaves severe impacts in Chile, but new methods exist: Report

Aimee Gabay 10 Sep 2025

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