Five regional countries — including China — have agreed to establish a “Regional Network for the Conservation and Management of Freshwater Dolphins and Biodiversity” to strengthen sustainable management and protection of freshwater dolphins across the region.
The agreement was reached during a three-day regional workshop in Siem Reap on “Sharing Experiences and Successful Practices in the Conservation and Management of Freshwater Dolphins and Biodiversity”.
Delegates from five countries — Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia — participated.
On the afternoon of December 3, undersecretary of state of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Im Rachna and Professor Wang Ding of the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences presided over the closing ceremony.
The agriculture ministry explained on Thursday, December 4, that the workshop marked a historic milestone as delegates from the five countries agreed to establish a Regional Network for Irrawaddy Freshwater Dolphin Conservation and Management, with technical support from the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center (FFRC) of China.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Rachna praised participants for their active discussions, sharing of experiences, and valuable recommendations toward the common goal of strengthening sustainable conservation and management of freshwater dolphins.
She highlighted China’s successful experience conserving the finless porpoise in the Yangtze River as a model that Cambodia and other countries with freshwater dolphin populations can learn from to help boost the species’ recovery.
As co-chair of the workshop, she thanked Wang for his commitment to providing technical assistance and expertise to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia to ensure sustainable conservation and management of their freshwater dolphin populations for future generations.
The workshop was organised from 2–4 December by the Fisheries Conservation Department of the Fisheries Administration, supported by funding from the Government of the People’s Republic of China through the Lancang–Mekong Cooperation Special Fund.
At the opening ceremony, Agriculture Ministry Secretary of State Has Sareth reaffirmed Cambodia’s commitment to increasing the number of dolphins in natural habitats and reducing mortality to the lowest level. He also noted that over the past year, Cambodia recorded zero dolphin deaths — a proud achievement for Mekong River dolphin conservation.
On December 1, the Kingdom welcomed its eighth newborn dolphin of the year in the Kampi Dolphin Pool area of Kratie province, bringing the country’s total freshwater dolphin population to 112 individuals.
