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The Mekong River, by Jeyte Timmerman
Length: 2,700 miles (4,350 kilometres)
Area: 313,000 square miles (810,600 square kilometres)
Usage: irrigation water for farming and fishing by local civilians
Environmental problems:
Through destruction of human made buildings during the colonization and the Indochina War, the people living near by the Mekong River felt the effects of external sources.
Abstract
Home to some 65 million people, the Mekong basin is a vast area of natural wealth and diversity nourished by the Mekong River and its tributaries. As the river makes its way from China to the South China Sea, it carries with it a rich load of silt that is deposited on fertile flood plains and is home to a massive array of aquatic life. The Mekong is one of the most biologically diverse river systems in the world, surpassed only by the Amazon and possibly the Nile.
Farming and fishing in small subsistence community’s remains the way of life for most people on the Mekong, and local livelihoods are closely linked to the forest systems and river flows. Most local activities and traditions, whether it is rice cultivation, fish harvesting, boat races or water festivals, are timed to the seasonal rise and fall of the Mekong. Along highland streams, flood plains and tidal mud flats, the ingenious and elegant technology designed by local people to bring water and silt to the fields, and fish to traps and nets, are the result of generations of local knowledge and systems.
Cambodia's Tonle Sap - one of the world\'s most productive fishing grounds - yields an annual catch of 100,000 tons of fish, the main source of protein for Cambodia\'s 9.5 million people. In neighbouring Laos, fish accounts for around 85 percent of all consumed protein. Scientists acknowledge that they have only limited knowledge about the scope of the river\'s complexity and diversity. Every year, new species of fish are added to the list of around 1,000 indigenous species already identified. Not surprisingly, fisheries experts often call on local fishermen to gather information about the breeding cycles, feeding habits and migratory patterns of specific fish species.
The Mekong region is also characterized by a rich cultural heritage and diversity: hundreds of different ethnic groups - with their own language, traditions and beliefs - live in the lowland, upland and highland communities throughout the region. Local knowledge, traditions and land-use systems are closely interwoven with the surrounding environment and natural resources. For most upland and highland communities, shifting cultivation has been the main source of livelihood and survival. Effective systems for conserving and protecting forest resources have been central to this form of land-use, reflected in a wide range of local community forest systems, village regulations and taboos.
The riverbasin of the Mekong river
However, local communities and resource management regimes have long felt the impact of external influences. Local people and their environment have had to deal with, adapt to, and survive the effects of colonialism, war and \"development\'. The Indochina War devastated vast areas of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; the impact from the sustained bombing of the region, and the associated dislocation of local communities, is felt to this day. The subsequent isolation from the West limited access to resources necessary to rebuild and recover from the war. It is a tribute to the resourcefulness and resilience of the people of the Mekong that their livelihoods and cultures remain so strong. Nonetheless, some Mekong scholars fear that the latest external threat, in the form of dams, privatisation and unfettered global market forces, could have even more devastating long-term impacts on the people and resources of the Mekong.
We assorted some helpful links to obtain more information about the Mekong River Basin:
Mekong information system
The Mekong Forum
The Mekong Sources
Encyclopaedia Britannia
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