Threats
The major threats to biodiversity:
The illegal wildlife tradeThe illegal wildlife trade is said to be worth over $10 billion (USD) a year in Southeast Asia and is a major threat to species survival in the Greater Mekong.
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Infrastructural development
Major development infrastructure such as dams and roads located in and around protected areas run counter to conservation efforts, while outside of protected areas these affect ecoregional processes.
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Deforestation results in habitat degradation and therefore species loss
Deforestation is driven by a number of socio-economic activities, the most significant of which are commercial logging, hydropower development, infrastructure development, and forestland conversion for the purposes of cash cropping and subsistence agriculture. Fuel-wood consumption, to heat homes and cook food, is also a factor in the loss of forest habitat.
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Many factors
A number of other factors, underlying the direct threats, set the stage for increased deforestation, biodiversity loss and – ultimately – environmental degradation. Such causes include population growth and migration, poverty, road building, lack of land use planning and economic land allocation processes, and economic policies that encourage unsustainable resource use.
Institutional weaknesses
Institutional weaknesses represent another threat, as insufficient capacity of key institutions and a weak legal framework undermine natural resource management capacity and biodiversity conservation efforts in the region.
What are Drivers?
The WWF Greater Mekong Programme, in close coordination with WWF-US, identified four key "drivers", which are causing changes and endanger the achievement of long-term conservation. These are:
agriculture | forestry/timber trade | infrastructure | the wildlife trade