Life on the Lower Sesan

Just south of Laos, in the northeast corner of Cambodia, the Mekong’s most important tributary river system can be found. Known as the “3S” river basin, it is made up of the Sesan, Sekong and Srepok rivers. For the communities that live there, these rivers are residents’ primary source of food and income. However, the Lower Sesan 2 dam could significantly alter their livelihoods and the ecosystem as a whole. If built, it alone will be responsible for some 9% of predicted fisheries decline from dam construction in the Mekong Basin. This short explores communities’ struggle to be involved in the proposed dam’s development.