Hidden in and around the muddy depths of the Mekong River is a wondrous animal world.

Here you can find catfish that weigh up to 300 kilograms and measure almost the length of a car. You might come across a dolphin that is known to communicate with humans to coordinate fishing expeditions. Or you could stumble upon something completely unknown: between 1997 and 2014, over 2,000 new species were discovered in the Lower Mekong Basin.

At a major intersection in Jakarta, Indonesia during a recent morning rush hour, a low rumble permeates the sticky air. Dozens of motorbikes and scooters idle impatiently at a stoplight. As the light turns green, the rumble crescendos into an ear-splitting drone as the two-wheelers accelerate away.

27 November 2020 - Bangkok, Thailand

Crocodiles are not Sneha Shahi’s favourite animal, but every time she sees one now she smiles. And she sees plenty.

Sneha led a campaign to clean up the filthy river, stuffed with plastic waste, that winds its way through the campus of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat, India. Ridding the river of plastic had an unexpected outcome – bringing crocodiles back.

Drive through northern India in winter and you'll find a landscape shrouded in smoke. The haze, which at times is so thick it can be seen from space, is the by-product of the widespread burning of crop leftovers across India's sprawling farm belt.

But the smoke is more than an eyesore – it's also hazardous. During the burning season, the air pollution in Delhi, India's capital, is 14 times the safe limit.

In Chiang Rai, Thailand, a city perched on the banks of the Mekong River, a group of some 90 residents and university students came together to pick up trash on 19 September.

Like millions of others, they were marking World Cleanup Day, an annual event that encourages communities to tidy up litter from rivers, beaches, cities and even the seafloor.

Across Myanmar, artisanal miners hunt for gold flecks in rivers and pit mines. The work is physically taxing and the income meagre. For many, the sprinkling of particles they find will only offer a few extra dollars of daily income.

9 July 2020 – Niigata, Japan: The Task Force on Soil and Vegetation Monitoring of EANET has published a review on air pollution and tree and forest decline in East Asia.

While working for the decades-old family fashion business, Sissi Chao had an experience that literally took her breath away.

“Not long after I started, I started visiting our fabric suppliers,” said Chao. “I could hardly breathe, even before I got in the building. It was awful. Every supplier was the same. And I knew that all of this pollution was going into the environment.”

On the 30^th June 2020, 1,900 young people joined together at the Virtual Youth Summit in India to celebrate their completion of the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge in India. The challenge is a global initiative to educate young people about plastic pollution.