Additional Context: Wonders of the Mekong, or WoM, was a USAID-funded project entering its ninth year of implementation before it was abruptly terminated in early 2025. With plans to continue through 2029, this $29.7 million project conducted applied research, built capacity, and implemented outreach and communication strategies to highlight the natural, economic, and cultural capital of the Lower Mekong River.

Although other donors continue to support natural resource management in the Mekong region, a representative from the Wonders of the Mekong project said the loss of U.S. funding halted community-based data collection and disrupted the open sharing of environmental information that had informed policymaking. Citizen science initiatives ended, the project's water quality laboratory ceased operations, field campaigns were suspended, and public outreach stopped—bringing both the generation and dissemination of new knowledge about the Mekong River Basin to a standstill.

Collected data had historically been channeled toward agencies managing the river basin, informing policy on overfishing, water pollution, and habitat fragmentation.

Source: Wonders of the Mekong