SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

1 - IntroductionIntroduction 1There is evidence of human settlement in the MekongBasin dating back 6,000 years, 1 and people havecertainly been living along the river far longer than that.More than a dozen sites of human habitation datingfrom 8,000-10,000 years ago are known in Thailandand Viet Nam, and although none are yet known in theMekong Basin, it is probably just a matter of time beforethey are discovered. Indeed, it seems likely that thebasin was inhabited by human ancestors such as Homoerectus about one million years ago. 2But although the basin has an undoubtedly long historyof human occupation – far longer than that for mostother river basins outside of Africa, the impact ofhumans on the basin was slight. Until quite recently,population densities in most of the basin were quitelow, although from the time agriculture anddomesticated animals were available, the region hadthe capacity in terms of potential food production tosupport larger and denser populations than most otherregions of the world. 3 For example, Thailand isestimated to have been 70 percent forested in 1936,with relatively few areas cleared, most of which wereAlthough human settlement in the basincould date back a million or more years,until recently population densities have beenlow and their impact slightalong the rivers, most notably the Chao Phraya. 4 The wars fought in the 17 th and 18 th centuriesbetween the various kingdoms thattoday would be part of Myanmar,Thailand, Lao PDR and Cambodia,were fought largely to obtainpopulation, not land. 5The Lower Mekong Basin has a rich cultural heritagedating back many centuriesDuring the Angkor Period, from the 9 thto the 15 th century, there was an extensiveempire established in the lower Mekongarea, extending at times at least fromPhimai near Korat in what is nowThailand, to Angkor in what is nowCambodia, and down to the MekongDelta. The development of the veryextensive complex of temples, cities and1