mekong river
Plastic trash on Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva shore on September 15, 2021. (Michael Dickison/VOD)

Mekong River Body Raises ‘Alarm’ Over River Plastics

Mekong countries are producing 8 million tons of plastic waste a year — three-quarters of which is littered or inadequately disposed of — polluting rivers and endangering environmental and human health, the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission said.

Traffic on the Phnom Penh riverside in 2022. (Chanrith Natvathnak/Future Forum)

Opinion: Placemaking Possibilities Are Endless if Riverside Is Transformed

Phnom Penh’s riverside is already rich in community and history. Pedestrianizing it would open up new possibilities for people-led “placemaking,” perhaps with a garden, viewpoints or room for temporary art spaces, writes Future Forum’s Keth Piseth in part three of a campaign for a car-free Sisowath Quay.

Community fishery patrollers drive back to Kampong Kbeung village in a modified boat confiscated from illegal fishers that is now used by the patrol team. An increasing number of illegal fishers are modifying the hulls of their boats so that they can outpace the community patrol boats. (Andy Ball)

On Patrol, a Mekong Village Tackles Electric Fishing Scourge

Volunteer community patrollers along the Mekong aim to stop a rise in illegal electric fishing, which harms river ecosystems and livelihoods that rely on protected fisheries. But the sale of outlawed gear allows the dangerous practice to continue.

Landfill at the Khun Sea satellite city development site in Akrei Khsat commune in Kandal province’s Lvea Em district on November 17, 2020. (Tran Techseng/VOD)

Mekong Landfilling Progresses for 70-Hectare Shopping, Condo Complex

The infilling of 70 hectares of the Mekong River across from Phnom Penh is nearly complete, residents say, as the Kandal provincial governor touts the “development potential” of the oknha’s project that he says will soon sway any unhappy locals.