The absence of fishing boats on this stretch of the Mekong River, just a few kilometers north of the eastern Cambodian town of Kratie, means military policeman Em Pheap is doing his job.
One of about 80 "river guards," he is part of a groundbreaking conservation effort which has been credited with helping pull the Irrawaddy dolphin back from extinction.
"There, there!" he pointed excitedly during a recent patrol on the river, shouldering his assault rifle and standing high on the back of the boat.
PHOTO: AFP
The pair of dolphins, dark slivers on the horizon, broke the surface with a gentle exhale of breath heard over the murmur of the current running through the submerged trees in this vast monsoon season flood plain.
The total number of Mekong dolphins is unknown, but marine specialists say the mammals remain some of the world's most critically endangered.
With their pale gray skin and blunt beaks, the dolphins resemble porpoises more than their sea-going cousins.
PHOTO: AFP
Their numbers already vastly reduced by Cambodia's drawn-out civil conflict - dolphin blubber was used to lubricate machine parts and light lamps - these graceful creatures are now falling prey to development and the attendant problem of over-crowding as this wild corner of the country opens up.
The Mekong is one of only five freshwater habitats in the world for this species of dolphin, and Cambodia supports its largest remaining population, thought to hover around 100 congregating in natural deep-water pools.
"The Kratie-Stung Treng stretch of the Mekong is their last stronghold," said Richard Zanre, the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) freshwater program manager in Cambodia, describing a river habitat running 200km from Kratie to Stung Treng, Cambodia's last large port before the Mekong crosses over into Laos.
War and the ensuing lawlessness kept the region largely out of the reach of researchers for decades. But since 2001, biologists and other wildlife experts have discovered an unexpectedly rich biosphere.
At its core are the dolphins, "a flagship species for the conservation of the river," says the WWF.
Desperate to revive a plummeting population, the government created the river guards, the first organization of its kind and part of a conservation effort launched last year after a spate of mysterious dolphin deaths.
But while the guards appear to have had some success in bringing dolphin numbers back up, they have been met with hostility and sometimes violence from local villagers who make their living along the river.
"The most important thing is to cooperate with the people," said Touch Seang Tana, chairman of the government's Commission for Mekong River Dolphin Conservation.
"Without the participation of the local people in conservation, we will not be successful."
A spike in deaths among dolphin calves last year left officials scrambling to re-think their conservation efforts as Cambodia prepared to launch one of its most ambitious tourism efforts to date: The Mekong River Discovery Trail.
The trail, which hopes to bring tourism and development to one of Cambodia's most neglected regions, roughly follows the dolphins' habitat.
The animals' survival is crucial to the plan's success, officials say.
"No dolphins means no tourism. No tourism means no development," Tourism Minister Thong Khon said last week as the trail, a joint UN-Cambodian project, was announced.
The solution, according to Touch Seang Tana, was to try to radically change the economy of the river to make dolphins more valuable alive than dead.
Alternate means of livelihood would be introduced to villages along the river to take advantage of a booming tourism sector that has already benefited other parts of the country.
"My idea is ... to try to get poor fishermen to change over to tourism," Touch Seang Tana said. "I give them tour boats" to bring visitors to see the dolphins.
Reducing villagers' dependence on fishing is hoped to also see a drop in the use of gillnets.
Cheap and easy to use, gillnets are as efficient a killer of dolphins as they are of fish, said Touch Seang Tana, a marine scientist by training who blames this now-illegal fishing method for 99 percent of dolphin deaths.
But getting local fishermen to risk their livelihoods for an animal that is of little value commercially or as food has been hard, he explained.
"I tried to invite them to meetings to explain our actions, even tried to pay them money
... . But they didn't come, they sent their pregnant wives," he said.
"We decided then that we'll confiscate (fishing gear) and then they came. They came with knives, they wanted to kill the river guards," he added.
"They want to kill all of the dolphins because they are keeping people from making a living."
Since the introduction of the river guards, however, illegal net fishing, along with the use of explosives or electrical charges to catch fish - practices that also inadvertently kill dolphins - have dropped, said guard Em Pheap.
"Before it was a big problem, but now people are understanding more about this," he said.
The WWF's Zanre said that while the number of dying dolphin calves is still dangerously high, "adult dolphin mortalities have declined" as a result of conservation.
Even before the Discovery Trail becomes a reality, its successes are evident in Kampi, where dolphins have become the local industry.
Aside from the boats lining up for sightseers, nearly every house along the narrow tree-lined road shadowing the river hawks tiny dolphin carvings.
"Everyone earns the money, even the children, from dolphins. You can see their livelihood has changed - you can see televisions in houses, some people even have motorcycles," Touch Seang Tana said.
"The dolphin is so important. I tell them 'The dolphin is everything for you' and now they can see that," he added.
"Its future is their future."
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a delegation on a visit to the mainland” as the KMT’s press release worded it. The KMT’s press release added “Chairwoman Cheng expressed her gratitude for the invitation and has gladly accepted it.” Beijing’s official Xinhua news release described Song Tao (宋濤), head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CCP Central Committee, as
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
Last week saw Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), receive a 17-year sentence for crimes involving political corruption. This was only the opening round: the case is likely to drag on for several more years in appeals. Both the TPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are claiming that the prosecutors are engaging in a political witch hunt, green terror, fascism and so forth. It is easy to see this as a kind of compensation. After all, otherwise they would have to admit that the rather impressive collection of evidence against Ko actually
RSS