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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

An Annamite striped rabbit in a breeding facility in Thailand.

Already disappearing, Southeast Asia’s striped rabbits now caught in global pet trade

Spoorthy Raman 25 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

A cassava farmer checks his crops in the Juma Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, circa 2011. Cassava serves as both an important commercial crop and a subsistence crop by Indigenous and traditional peoples.

Witch Hunt: Virulent fungal disease attacks South America’s cassava crop

Gloria Dickie 5 Nov 2025

Logging in western Cambodia. Image anonymously provided to Mongabay.

Most Cambodia & Laos tree cover loss in 2024 happened inside protected areas

Mongabay.com 27 Oct 2025

Leaching ponds have been drilled into the mountains of Laos, using a mix of toxic chemicals to separate the rare earth minerals from the other materials siphoned out of the ground. Image supplied by source.

Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River

Mongabay 27 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

To track a unicorn: Laos team goes all out to find the last saolas

Carolyn Cowan 30 Sep 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

Thai authorities seized more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of ivory hidden in luggage shipped out from Congo to Laos via Bangkok in 2015.

Large-scale illegal wildlife shops in Laos found scamming Chinese tourists

Mongabay.com 22 Jul 2025

Long-tailed macaques being held at Sookvannaseng Integrated's breeding farm in Bolikhamsai province, Laos. Image supplied by source.

Data discrepancies suggest Laos monkey smuggling persists, despite trade ban

Gerald Flynn 23 Apr 2025

Banner image of the rescued bears, courtesy of Free the Bears.

Three moon bears rescued in first closure of Laos bile farm

Kristine Sabillo 22 Apr 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

Peatland forest in Central Kalimantan.

Protecting peatlands and mangroves could halve Southeast Asia’s land-use emissions

Hans Nicholas Jong 18 Feb 2025

Southeast Asia in review: 2024

Carolyn Cowan, Gerald Flynn 30 Dec 2024

Hylomys macarong, a smooth hedgehog

Greater Mekong serves up 234 new species in a year, from fanged hedgehog to diva viper

Carolyn Cowan 16 Dec 2024

Fresh forest clearance inside Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary signals the beginning of an infrastructure project that will bisect the forest. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

New transmission lines cut a Cambodian rainforest sanctuary in half

Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 27 Nov 2024

Northern white-cheeked crested gibbon

Gibbons found to perform dance routines akin to ‘the robot,’ but why?

Carolyn Cowan 11 Nov 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

Banks backing Mekong hydropower failing on due diligence, report reveals

Carolyn Cowan 20 May 2024

Satellite image of wildfires in Quebec, Canada, in June, 2023.

Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach

Hans Nicholas Jong 4 Apr 2024

Eucalyptus trees at the Burapha Agro-Forestry plantation near Xathany District, Laos, 2023. Image courtesy of Melissa Lo.

Land tenure lesson from Laos for forest carbon projects (commentary)

Melissa Lo / Simran Kaur / Oluwole Soyinka / Sheng Huan Tang / Song Fu 2 Apr 2024

Hydropower in doubt as climate impacts Mekong Basin water availability

Carolyn Cowan 21 Feb 2024

A logger carries his chainsaw through the forest of the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. He will sell the timber to garment factories.

Shrinking civil space and persistent logging: 2023 in review in Southeast Asia

Carolyn Cowan, Gerald Flynn 28 Dec 2023

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

Hướng Thiện 18 Dec 2023

In Laos, forest loss and carbon emissions escalate as agriculture intensifies

Carolyn Cowan 12 Dec 2023

Rice farmers in Vietnam

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

Carolyn Cowan 8 Nov 2023

Coffee growers in Vietnam

EU deforestation-free rule ‘highly challenging’ for SE Asia smallholders, experts say

Carolyn Cowan 20 Sep 2023

Chiang Mai lawsuit

Citizens demand sustainable solution to haze crisis in northern Thailand

Carolyn Cowan 6 Jun 2023

Greater Mekong proves an ark of biodiversity, with 380 new species in a year

Liz Kimbrough 24 May 2023

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