The World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) has identified the Irrawaddy Dolphin as a *flagship species for the conservation of the Mekong River, not only because of its Critically Endangered status, but because the Irrawaddy Dolphin has certain minimum requirements from its habitat that effectively reflects the health of the river ecosystem for other species, including humans.
*A flagship species is a species selected to act as an ambassador, icon or symbol for a defined habitat, issue, campaign or environmental cause.

These requirements include:

  • Sufficient undisrupted water to swim, feed and feel safe in
  • Abundant prey to remain healthy and ensure population growth
  • Waters unobstructed by human activity and construction to find prey and migrate between different habitat systems
  • Clean river system to prevent illness and death from persistent contaminants and toxic materials

This critical habitat is also essential to maintain the fisheries’ productivity as they act as a dry season refuge to a host of commercially important species. As the Irrawaddy Dolphin is generally revered by the locals, it makes a good flagship to mobilise support for broader river environment conservation issues.

Before WWF’s involvement, previous conservation efforts by the Cambodian Government had been operating on extremely limited and scarce resources, but managed to develop a sound understanding of the issue. Research was the primary focus of the project in 2001-2002. In 2003, the activities designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Irrawaddy Dolphin population were carried out. These activities include large-scaled local and government notifications of dolphin carcass recovery program, raising public awareness of dolphin conservation program through workshops, posters and leaflets, increased enforcement of existing fishing regulations and providing tangible benefits to the locals in return for their cooperation with conservation activities. It was crucial that efforts are scaled up and effectively coordinated and managed, and that immediate action has to be taken to protect the future of the Irrawaddy Dolphin population in the Mekong River.

The WWF, the Cambodian Rural Development Team and the Fisheries Administration collaborated with one another in 2005 to implement the Cambodian’s government’s Cambodian Mekong Dolphin Conservation Strategy (established since 2001), which addresses the urgent need to conserve the Irrawaddy Dolphins in the Mekong River. This is the most established project with regards to the conservation of the Irrawaddy Dolphins.

Primary aims of the project:

  • To gather a comprehensive status assessment of the Irrawaddy Dolphin population inhabiting the Mekong River
  • To develop and implement effective conservation and management initiatives to maintain a viable population of Irrawaddy Dolphins
  • Tp protect the environmental health of the Mekong River

Key Areas of Project

Challenges Faced 

Successes