STUNG TRENG, CAMBODIA – Two years after the last Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead in a transboundary pool in the Mekong River on the Cambodia-Laos border, the villagers who once relied on the dolphins to attract eco-tourists have a new plan to get visitors to return. But they need support to make it happen.
Phoy Vanna, 58, the owner of a tourist boat, had supported his family by taking people to see these rare animals, and still dreams about the Irrawaddy dolphins.
They swam in front of his house in the Mekong River near Cambodia’s northern border with Laos, near the isolated Preah Rumkel commune in Anlong Chheuteal village.
Some of the dolphins jumped and played in the water, floating their sleek, grey bodies above the water. He could hear their whistles from his house.
When Vanna awakes from his dream, however, the playful dolphins are gone – all the dolphins near in his village have gone.
Back in 2007, there were eight of them. Their numbers then plummeted to three in 2018 due to multiple threats, including the widespread use of gill nets that trapped the animals, destructive fishing practices and upstream hydro-power dam construction that disrupted the river’s flow.
The last one, a male dolphin known by the nickname Phsaaot E Ka (ផ្សោតឯកា), or “the lonely dolphin,” was reported dead on February 15, 2022 – marking the extinction of the Irrawaddy dolphin in this section of the Mekong River.
His death was caused by weakness after his tail was injured when he became tangled in illegal fishing gear. After that, he struggled to swim and feed himself.
The grieving villagers buried the last lonely dolphin’s body and local tourism has not recovered since.
The death of the last dolphin put an end to the eco-tourism that had thrived in Preah Rumkel commune for nearly two decades. Visitors once arrived daily and took dolphin-watching boat trips or camped on the sandy island in the middle of the river to see the friendly animals.
Don Ban, the chief of Preah Rumkel commune, said his area had lost 90% of its visitors. Local records show that 170 people from 250 families in the village have now migrated away, mostly driven by job and income losses from tourism.
But Vanna, who is also a committee member of the local eco-tourism group, hopes the absence of the lonely dolphin is not the end of his community’s story. “Our village doesn’t need to diminish. We must work more to restore tourism,” he said.
His community has an idea.
The dolphin festival
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia stretches for 180 kilometers and is home to more than 80 Irrawaddy dolphins, which have been placed on the IUCN Red List due to their “critically endangered” status.
The dolphins lived in two sections of the Mekong River that winds its way through Cambodia. One section runs between Kratie and Stung Treng provinces and the other was at Anlong Chheuteal. The latter has no more dolphins.
Irrawaddy dolphins are regarded as sacred animals by people in both Cambodia and Laos, providing income and jobs to communities through tourism.
Along with their ecological and economic value, Irrawaddy dolphins help humans connect. When the animals roamed free in Anlong Chheuteal, their existence encouraged villagers in Cambodia and Laos to find ways to collaborate on river protection and sustainable tourism.
“The Irrawaddy dolphin is recognized as a treasure and the source of pride for Cambodia,” said Chea Seila, the manager for Wonders of the Mekong, a USAID-funded project that promotes research and capacity-building activities that highlight the values of biodiversity and ecosystems in the Mekong River.
“The animals can be the entry point of human contact, research, conservation work and tourism. They are also indicators for a healthy river.”
The dolphins once inspired Seila to compose a poem named The Lonely Irrawaddy Dolphin, which encouraged people and researchers to observe the animals in the Anlong Chheuteal area.
To help tourism recover in their area, members of Preah Rumkel commune have been discussing an idea and seeking support to organize an event named the “Irrawaddy Dolphin Annual Festival,” which would engage visitors in activities that reflected the value of dolphins and rivers, while promoting conservation efforts.
They are looking at the River Festival as a role model. Started in 2015, this annual festival has been backed by Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism as part of its strategy to promote local culture and tourism tied to the rivers.
This event usually features a food festival, local product exhibition, performances and many other entertainment activities. The recent 8th River Festival was held for three days in Siem Reap in March and attracted more than 550,000 visitors.
Vanna suggested that the Irrawaddy Dolphin Festival could focus on organizing nature-based and educational outdoor activities like trips to the flooded forest at the Stung Treng Ramsar site, which hosts a deep pool where Irrawaddy dolphins once lived. Camping on the islands in the river and a local food festival could also be part of the program.
“Villagers on the Cambodia and Laos border can collaborate to organize and promote this festival. Each can take turns to host the festival. We go visit them, and they can come visit us. But we need support from governmental organizations to make it happen,” said Vanna.
Residents have a plan to dig up the bones of the lonely dolphin and showcase it in a large glass box. It would represent the story of his community’s loss, and the lessons learned for the next generation about the risks of neglecting natural resources and protecting them.
They now preserve the skeleton of another dolphin which had died earlier.
Untapped potential
Seila from Wonders of the Mekong said Anlong Chheuteal could be turned into a center for dolphin research or have a natural history museum as there is a lot of information relating to the animals that needed to be written down and recorded. A research tour could be one of the income options for the local community.
Anlong Chheuteal is located right next to the 14,600-hectare Stung Treng Ramsar site – home to a population of critically endangered white-shouldered Ibis, as well as many other bird and freshwater fish species.
The site has already welcomed domestic tourists, who take boat trips through the flooded forest, which is a unique forest that is completely inundated during the wet season and turns into sandy islands during the dry season.
“Villagers can actively contribute to the conservation of the flooded forest, which has the potential to attract tourists,” said Vy Phalluy from the Culture and Environment Preservation Association (CEPA).
“The conservation can help promote eco-tourism. Preserving fishery resources by stopping the use of illegal fishing gear can also help the community avoid disasters.”
Khvay Atitya, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, added that the ministry had developed a management plan for the Anlong Chheuteal area focusing on capacity building, research and cooperation to protect natural resources, while strengthening local community participation in developing eco-tourism.
While seeking support for his community, Vanna has kept his tourist boat and uses it for transportation services to make a living. He believes that even without the dolphins, there is a lot of potential in nature-related activities waiting to be tapped.
Whenever he rides in his boat, he says he can still hear the whistles of the dolphins, which often followed his boat when he took tourists out on the water.
He feels like their spirits are still with him.
This story was supported by the Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.
