PHNOM PENH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- "The Wonders of the Mekong" project, designed to promote sustainable rivers in Southeast Asia, was launched in Cambodia on Tuesday.
The five-year project is led by Zeb Hogan, who is a National Geographic fellow and host of the television show "Monster Fish," on Nat Geo Wild.
The Mekong river is a biodiversity hotspot, supporting over 70 million people. It is the habitat of almost 1,000 species of freshwater fish, countless rare and endangered species, said Hogan.
"The Wonders of the Mekong project aims to maintain the ecological, cultural, and economic integrity of the most important river and delta system in the world," he said at the launching ceremony.
Using social media and other forms of mass media, the project will share stories about the ways that the people of the region use and benefit from the Mekong river and its tributaries.
Funded by the United States Agency for International Development, the 5-million-U.S.-dollar project will build institutional partnerships and develop educational material to advance research on the importance of the Mekong river biodiversity and ecosystems, he added.
The Mekong river with its total length of about 4,800 km is the most productive river on earth, said Cambodian Secretary of State for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Nao Thuok, adding that it originates in China and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"The project will contribute to conserving the beauty and sustainability of this mighty river for the benefits of the people living on and along it," he said.
Thuok said the Mekong river is home to many unique and endangered fish species such as the Giant Mekong catfish, the Giant Mekong barb, the thicklip and thinlip barbs, the freshwater crocodile, the Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin and the Asian soft-shell turtle.
Besides, the river is the habitat of countless birds and wildlife species, including a lot of rare and endangered species, he said.
