New Paper: Transboundary Threats in the Mekong Basin: Protecting a Crucial Fishery

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future has published a new paper in its Issues in Brief series. The paper, titled “Transboundary Threats in the Mekong Basin: Protecting a Crucial Fishery,” was written by Irit Altman, a Pardee Center Visiting Research Fellow and Research Assistant Professor of Biology at Boston University.

In the paper, Prof. Altman looks at the impacts that dams in the upper Mekong River basin have on the critically important fishery in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Altman explores how development of dams, in combination with a failure of regional governance, has threatened the ecological sustainability of the lake and its watershed, and the livelihoods of people in the region. She identifies strategies to enhance the resilience of the Tonle Sap fishery and improve the lives of people who are connected to this unique ecosystem.

A marine and freshwater ecologist, Prof. Altman works with an interdisciplinary research team to develop ecosystem models that integrate scientific knowledge and inform decision-making. She has extensive experience working with field experts and decision makers in Cambodia to understand system change and explore sustainability options in the Tonle Sap ecosystem.

Click here to download the PDF. Hard copies are free and can be requested by sending an email to pardee@bu.edu.