The mighty Mekong’s last hope
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 16 November 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tens of millions of lives depend on the Mekong river for fishing and farming as it travels through China and South East Asia. But there are increasing signs that this river with one of the richest ecosystems on earth is being strangled. A cascade of dams, intensifying climate change, and sand dredging have scientists worried. Is this region harnessing the river’s power – or are they killing it? Laura Bicker visits communities whose livelihoods rely on the Mekong and meets a new generation trying to breathe life into the dying river.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Sport, but not as you know it. |
| 0:03.0 | Yes, you're good enough. |
| 0:05.0 | We wish we could take you, but you're a girl. |
| 0:08.0 | Amazing sports stories from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.0 | The rules were holding her back. So she would have to rewrite them. |
| 0:15.8 | Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Hello and thank you for listening to this assignment. I'm in Cambodia watching the |
| 0:27.9 | fish market unfold. The reason we're here is because scientists are worried not just about the future of this fish |
| 0:35.4 | but the future of the essential Mekong River which runs through Cambodia along with five other countries |
| 0:43.0 | One of the reasons researchers believe that there are fewer fish in the Mekong |
| 0:47.0 | is the cascade of dams that are being built upstream. |
| 0:51.0 | They're also real concerns about sand mining, especially in Phnom Penh, where young people |
| 0:57.2 | are prepared to risk their own futures to try to save the future of the river. |
| 1:05.0 | One of the things we are asking, with the help of Cambodia's next generation, |
| 1:09.0 | is is this region harnessing the mighty Mekong's power or is it killing it? |
| 1:20.0 | Welcome to the documentary on the BBC World Service. |
| 1:23.2 | I'm Laura Bicker and here on assignment we're heading down a river that is arguably |
| 1:28.1 | one of the most important in the world. The Mekong sustains 60 million lives after leaving the glassiers of the Himalayas. |
| 1:42.6 | For thousands of years, it has nourished rice fields |
| 1:46.2 | and filled fishermen's nets |
| 1:48.4 | as it flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, |
| 1:51.8 | and here in Cambodia. |
| 1:53.8 | It finally meets the sea in the south of Vietnam. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.