The Mekong Delta: A Biological and Socio-Economical Case Study of a Wetland

The Mekong River is the largest river in Southeast Asia, arising in the mountains of China, flowing along the border of Myanmar and Laos, and through Laos and Cambodia into Vietnam; 80% of the Mekong Delta lies within Vietnam. The biodiversity of the Delta and southern Vietnam as a whole depends on the cycles of the river. The Mekong Delta wetlands are highly productive and valuable for both use and non-use reasons. Unfortunately, they are also highly threatened by human activities resulting in degraded water quality, change in species composition, and pollution. This Vietnam-focused case study allows students to tackle this real-world conservation problem by approaching the topic from a variety of angles, thereby teaching them to appreciate the complexity of such issues (biological, geographical, environmental, political, and socio-economical).