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Thach Phanara first started studying animal health and fish diseases and conducted research on species at the fishing lots in Kampong Cham province. Phanara worked on the Mekong Fish Conservation Project from 1999–2013, in which he worked with fishermen to tag and release endangered fish species. Currently he is the head of the Laboratory Division at the Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute with the Fisheries Administration, where he in charge of analytical and experimental research and reporting. His daily work includes monitoring and identifying aquatic animals, including endangered species, and research and monitoring of juvenile fish species, including fish larval drift from the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers. Learn more about Phanara's efforts |
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Sun Visal is a Senior Project Officer with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Department of Freshwater Wetlands Conservation under the Cambodian Ministry of the Environment. He is responsible for monitoring wildlife, especially vulnerable and endangered water birds at the Ramsar Site at Prek Toal of Tonle Sap Lake. His tasks are to search for their nests and breeding areas, provide training to other officers in how to identify birds and collect data, check the birds’ arrivals and reproduction, identify areas to protect, and make monthly plans for local officers to guard the nests from poachers. Learn more about Visal's efforts |
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Hong Chamnan is a Project Manager with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Director for the Department of Freshwater Wetlands Conservation under the Cambodian Ministry of the Environment. Currently he works towards the conservation of endangered and vulnerable birds such as the Saurus Crane and Bengal Florican. This conservation focuses on education and outreach to key groups, such as community members, as well as relevant institutions to help them understand the importance of rare and endangered birds. As part of his job, he manages staff to monitor bird species, cracks down on crime such as land grabbing or illegal hunting, facilitates ecotourism in communities, and guards the nests of Bengal Floricans. Learn more about Chamnan's efforts |
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Chea Seila was a National Wetland and Livelihood Expert working on the Lower Mekong Basin Wetland Management and Conservation Project with GITEC and now is a program manager and coordinator for Wonders of the Mekong Project. She has been working for many years with fishers and remote communities who greatly depend on fishery and forestry products for food and income. Poverty, social, political, and economic changes have caused natural resources to decline day by day because of high demand, short supply, and little sustainable planning for management. This has taught her to adapt and look for different ways to protect, to preserve, and to conserve natural resources. Learn more about Seila's efforts |
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Bran Sinal is the Manager of the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center. He loves taking care of animals and understanding the nature of their lives. As the number of these animals decreased, he got involved with an organization working on turtle and softshell turtle conservation. Since 2011, he has learned more about the turtles and received training from colleagues and reptile experts from both Cambodia and abroad. In his current role, he oversees all activities including conservation, taking care of the turtles, center development, and partnerships. He also takes care of all the turtles that are donated by the villagers, especially to release the turtles back to their natural habitats. Learn more about Sinal's efforts |
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Aing Sereyrath is a Co-Founder and Project Coordinator for the Young Eco Ambassadors. Walking in the forest, traveling by boat, meeting with communities, learning from researchers, and meeting with environmental activists have all led her to where she is today. Her current role focuses on educating and disseminating information about the environment and biodiversity. In particular, she works with youth to spread the message of how wonderful the Mekong River is. Learn more about Sereyrath's efforts |
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Som Sitha is the Mekong and Sre Ambel Project Manager at the Wildlife Conservation Society. He has spent his early life surrounded by rice fields and nature. He pursued a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 2000, and after graduating, worked with Conservation International and then continued with a master’s degree in Environmental Management at Massey University in New Zealand. Part of his current job is to conserve the Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) along the Mekong River. This turtle was thought to be extinct in Cambodia before it was rediscovered along the Mekong River in 2007 under his research supervision. The Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle is classified as a Critically Endangered species by the IUCN Red List. Learn more about Sitha's efforts |
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Luy Rasmey serves as Executive Director of the Culture and Environment Preservation Association (CEPA). She has 21 years of experience in community-based natural resources management. She has worked as a researcher studying environment and natural resource management, and as a trainer and mentor for local communities on various skills related to community forestry, community fisheries, community-based ecotourism, community action research, gender, and climate change adaptation and resilience. The CEPA mission is to improve good governance, sustainable livelihoods, enrich the natural environment and provide skills and technologies for sustainable development in Cambodia. Learn more about Rasmey's efforts |
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Lor Kimsan is a Research Project Officer at WWF-Cambodia. He has been participating in research studies on the Mekong River dolphin in Kratie and Stung Treng Province for more than 20 years. His work also includes the study of deer and rare and endangered bird species in collaboration with technical departments and the Mekong Flooded Forest Landscape of WWF-Cambodia. His current work activities include photographing dolphins in order to identify them, monitoring fishing activities within dolphin protected areas as well as the birth rate of new dolphin calves, and performing autopsies on bodies of dead dolphins. He also set up camera traps in Sambo and Prek Prasob Wildlife Sanctuary, survey populations of White-shouldered Ibis and River Terns, protect the nests of rare bird species, and conduct education and outreach activities with communities. Learn more about Kimsan's efforts |
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Hoy Sreynov is a Fisheries Officer at the Department of Aquaculture Development, Cambodian Fisheries Administration. She has worked on fisheries research and conservation as well as aquaculture development, in addition to rural development, food security and nutrition. Many threats have pushed some fish species to the brink of extinction. Therefore, aquaculture can play an important role in conservation and help to increase natural stocks. Her work involves research, outreach, and providing training on aquaculture techniques to producers and other people who are interested in these techniques. She also raises juvenile fishes that are collected from the Mekong River as well as endangered species that are handed over by fishermen and aquaculture producers. These fish are reared in experimental ponds where she monitors their growth on a monthly basis. Some are released back to nature to increase wild populations or can be used as broodstock in the fish breeding process and for research purposes.
Learn more about Sreynov's efforts |
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Ms. Buth Chanmeta, currently serves as the program Monitoring and Evaluation for Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT). She used to work as Awareness and Outreach Senior Officer, WWF-Cambodia. Through her awareness raising activities in 90 villages along the Mekong River, Chanmeta helps communicate the value of the Mekong River’s biodiversity and the importance of protecting the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, as well as fish, birds, and other wildlife, to an average of 10,000 people each year. Learn more about Chanmeta's efforts |
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Hor Samath is the Deputy Chief of the Sdey Kroam Rohal Suong Community Fishery Committee in Prek Loung Commune, Ek Phnom District, Battambang Province. He has spent more than 20 years in community fisheries work. He has since worked to organize and establish community fisheries in multiple districts and acts as a consultant to train communities in non-violent actions to resolve land and forest disputes and fishing issues. His other activities include restoring habitat in conservation areas for fish, planting flooded forest species, and producing news stories related to fisheries resources, and livelihoods of people in the community. He hopes in the future that the Riang Pen Bei Tor Conservation and Development Area in his community will become an ecotourism site or recreation area that is rich in different types of flooded forest trees, birds, fish and other species. Learn more about Samath's efforts |
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Mr. Sum Phearun is a seasoned conservation professional with a proven track record in biodiversity protection. As the Program Manager at WCS Cambodia, he oversees a comprehensive portfolio of conservation initiatives. His responsibilities include managing a team of staff, fostering collaborative partnerships, and safeguarding the globally significant ecosystem functions and threatened wildlife species within the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve.
Mr. Phearun has made substantial contributions to biodiversity conservation in Cambodia. In 2022, under his leadership, WCS Cambodia successfully collaborated with the Ministry of Environment to establish new protected areas to safeguard the Critically Endangered Bengal Florican. He also played an important role in developing a five-year management plan for the Prek Toal Ramsar Site. His commitment to conservation has been further recognized through his membership in the IUCN Bustard Specialist Group and his successful fundraising efforts. Learn more about Phearun's efforts |
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Mr. Phoy Vanna is the Representative of the Preah Romkel Ecotourism site. He knows the area extremely well, having been involved in conservation work in and around the Mekong Ramsar site for more than 20 years. Vanna has long experience working with the critically endangered population of Irrawaddy dolphins that exists in the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. Sadly, the last remaining dolphin in the Anlong Chheuteal section of the Mekong died in 2022. Despite this, Vanna remains committed to finding ecotourism solutions to promote this spectacular area and protect the area’s magnificent biodiversity. Learn more about Vanna's efforts |
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Ms. Thaung Ret, A former Biodiversity and Science Manager with Conservation International Cambodia. Now she works as Forest Carbon Manager with Nakau Program in Brisbane, Queenland Australia.
As the former Biodiversity and Science Manager at Conservation International Cambodia, Ret played a key role in preserving the region's rich biodiversity. She was instrumental in establishing the REDD+ project in the Central Cardamom Mountains and contributed to Cambodia's updated National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan 2024 for the upcoming United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 16). She has also been a strong advocate for engaging young people in biodiversity research and policy-making. Learn more about Ret's efforts |
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Sinsamout Ounboundisane is a passionate fisheries biologist and the Mekong Director for FISHBIO Laos, a global fisheries research and conservation company. A Lao native, Sinsamout works tirelessly alongside local communities to protect their invaluable fisheries by creating co-managed Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs).
For over 15 years, his leadership has helped communities in Lao PDR to establish and enforce local FCZ regulations. He has worked with communities to empower them with the tools needed to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their FCZs. His work has taken him all over the Mekong basin and allowed him to conduct research on some of the most endangered and iconic fish species in Southeast Asia, including Jullien's golden carp, the Giant Mekong Stingray, and the Wolfbarb. Learn more about Sinsamout's efforts |
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Dr. Nantarika Chansue, a member of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Chulalongkorn University, and our first Mekong Conservation Hero from Thailand. Dr. Ning, as she is also known, is one of Thailand’s leading veterinarians specializing in aquatic animals. She is being recognized as a Mekong Hero primarily for her groundbreaking research on the giant freshwater stingray, the world’s largest freshwater fish. “They are the most beautiful animals in the world,” she says. Dr. Ning is the president of the Earth Agenda Foundation and lives in Bangkok. Learn more about Chansue's efforts |
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Ms. Bao Uyen is a Mekong Hero from Vietnam. She works as a freelance journalist. |
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