Greater Mekong Boasts Wealth of Biological Diversity

The Greater Mekong region encompasses parts of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China. In the past decade alone, over a thousand new species have been discovered in the area. 519 of these are plants and then 279 fish and 88 frogs have been discovered.

A recent report by the WWF titled "First Contact in Mekong" highlights some of these discoveries. The report should make this critical region a greater priority in conservation activities.

The main threat to the area is development and expansion plans in the burgeoning SouthEast Asian economy. Unbridled poaching activities are a further concern.

The report suggests that a cross-border agreement be negotiated between the relevant countries. This could result in legislation aimed at limiting destructive activity in the critical patch which spans some 600,000 square kilometres.