Songkhram river basin - symphony of biodiversity

The Songkhram meets the mekong

Bi-colored river is the translation. Where the Songkhram, Thailand's last free flowing tributary, meets its overlord, the river of giants, the mighty Mekong. This is the northeastern region of Thailand, Phagg Issan, the poorest and most resource dependent region of Thailand.

A meeting with some local woman

These woman hand us boughs of tropical leaves to sit on, and pour us ice water as we look out over a stretch of the Songkhram - their front yards, their grandmother's front yards, the front yards of their children and children's children. They tell us about the fishing pressure, and their newly demarcated fish conservation zone. As usual here in Thailand, the river stretch in front of the waterside temple is sacred and needs no signage or buoys to mark it as a non-fishing zone.

Net fishing is common - while net sizes and catch limitations are slow to be embraced by some villages, they are self-imposed by others, in order to preserve once limitless wild-caught fish resources that are slowly being depleted by rising populations, flood plain forest degradation, and commercial fishing.

Empty boats sit quietly along the rivers edge. The early morning and late afternoon are when they are paddled into the river, carrying net casting villagers eager to supplement their family's diets with their local protein of choice.

Drying fish for preservation

 The surplus catch is dried in the sun as a means of preservation.

Seasonally inundated forest is a key spawning habitat for fish species that migrate from the Mekong River - protecting this important tributary ensures a strong resilient Lower Mekong Basin.  During the rainy season, this river may rise as much as 7 meters - up to the front doorstep of the villager's houses.

Local village fish processing

Village woman process these fish for the market. This is an essential form of revenue and employment for the village.