Sustainability Times

The Mekong keeps on yielding species new to science

The Mekong in Southeast Asia is one of the world’s mightiest rivers and scientists are still learning about its stunning biodiversity. In fact, hardly a week seems to go by without new discoveries along the river. In a series of finds, according to a report by the World ...

Daniel T Cross

The Angkor and Mayan civilizations can ‘teach us about climate resilience’

The civilization of Angkor in what is now Cambodia thrived for centuries before it went into relatively sudden decline and collapsed. Across the world the Mayan civilization experienced a similar trajectory in Mesoamerica round about the same time. Yet even as these iconic civilizations collapsed between ...

Daniel T Cross

Creeping deforestation is threatening alpine environments across Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia was once largely covered in dense rainforests, but intense forest clearing over the past decades has denuded much of the tropical region of its forest cover. On the island of Borneo, for instance, 5.9 million hectares of trees were lost between 2004 and 2017 to logging, ...

Daniel T Cross

More dams would devastate the ailing Mekong River

Once, not that long ago, the Mekong River in Southeast Asia was a formidable waterway. Navigating much of the 4,350km-long river was a real challenge. The Mekong, which originates in China and empties into the South China Sea in Vietnam after passing through four other ...

Daniel T Cross

Tiger sightings in Thailand boost conservationists’ hopes

A century ago tigers were kings of the jungle across much of Southeast Asia. Literally so. The striped predators ruled supreme at the top of food chains in thick forests from Laos to Malaysia and from Burma to Vietnam. No longer. Most of those forests have ...

Myanmar’s mangrove forests are in grave peril

Mangrove forests are under threat across Southeast Asia and in the country of Myanmar alone more than 60% of them were lost within just two decades between 1996 and 2016, according to researchers at the National University of Singapore. “Mangroves are one of the world’s most ...

Dams on the Mekong are causing mayhem

The Mighty Mekong is one of the world’s most iconic rivers, but it is at grave risk of turning into a shadow of its former self. “Everywhere you look there are indications that this river, which has provided for so many, for so long, is at ...

The Mekong is on the cusp of an ecological catastrophe

People living along the banks of the Mekong River in Laos and Thailand were recently amazed to see the river’s water turn light blue and become so transparent that they could see the sandbars underneath. It was an eye-catching sight and the phenomenon boosted tourism ...

Darunee Sukanan

Freshwater dolphins in the Mekong are benefitting from better protection

Irrawaddy dolphins are curious creatures in more ways than one. They are curious by nature and look curious too. Instead of having long bottle-like nostrums like their relatives living in the seas, these freshwater mammals sport snub noses with bulging foreheads. They look a bit ...

Darunee Sukanan

A new dam on the Mekong could cause a biodiversity crisis

The Tonle Sap Lake is called the Great Lake by Cambodians for good reason. The scenic lake spans a vast area as the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia. Its quaint waterborne villages are popular with tourists. Yet Cambodia’s Great Lake does more than just provide for ...

Darunee Sukanan

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