Maya Dania
International Development Program, School of Social Innovation,
Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Source: Author
The Mekong River is not just a resource for human development. It is a dynamic living system that sustains biodiversity, cultural traditions, and ecological processes. The river is more than just a natural resource; it is home to many important relationships between people, animals, and spirits. For example, in Chiang Khong, two key ecological figures, the giant catfish (Pla Buk), a rare and endangered fish, and the Naga, a sacred water serpent in local beliefs, show how the river's life is connected to both nature and culture. These figures show that the Mekong is a shared living world, not just a backdrop for human activity.
Yet, dominant Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) policies in Chiang Khong and the broader Mekong region remain deeply anthropocentric, focusing on human economic growth, infrastructure expansion, and technocratic governance. The hydropower projects, large-scale infrastructure like the China-Laos railway, and development-driven conservation policies, for example, reflect an instrumentalist logic that prioritizes human interests over ecological integrity.
This article argues that to localize SDGs in Chiang Khong effectively, and ecological thinking must be integrated into policy frameworks, recognizing the Mekong River as an active agent rather than a passive resource. Drawing from posthumanist perspectives, particularly Anna Tsing's concept of multispecies entanglements and patchy landscapes[1] (Tsing et al. 2019), I argue that current SDG localization is still too focused on humans, putting human needs and interests at the center while ignoring the important relationships between humans and more-than-human life. This reflects a wider view of the Anthropocene, where humans are seen as both the main cause of and the solution to environmental problems. However, the cases of the giant catfish and the Naga in Chiang Khong show that the Anthropocene is not the same everywhere. Instead, we see a "Patchy Anthropocene," where human and more-than-human lives are deeply connected in uneven ways. These examples reveal the limits of a human-centered approach to sustainability and show the need to rethink SDG localization as a shared, relational process, not just a human goal. The Patchy Anthropocene is not only about loss or damage. It is about how human impacts are uneven: some places are badly damaged, some places are still healthy, and the changes happen in different ways depending on local conditions. It also shows that many different beings (like people, fish, spirits, sediments, and dams) are all connected and affect each other in ways that are not predictable.
The Anthropocene and the Limits of Anthropocentric SDG Policies
The Anthropocene signifies an era in which human activities have become the dominant force shaping the Earth's systems (Steffen et al., 2011). Yet, SDG policies often fail to address the interconnectedness of humans, ecosystems, and more-than-human life. Chiang Khong, a riparian community highly dependent on the Mekong River, exemplifies this contradiction. Policies designed to meet SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) through hydropower expansion or SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) through the China-Laos railway treat the river as an extractive economic resource, ignoring its ecological rhythms and the lifeways it supports.
Thus, posthumanism challenges this anthropocentric logic (Hobden, 2013; Ferrante & Sartori, 2016), urging us to see the Mekong River as a dynamic actor that co-constructs local livelihoods rather than a passive resource for human use. The declining Mekong giant catfish population, unpredictable seasonal flows, and sediment disruptions (Olson & Frenelus, 2024) are not merely environmental challenges; they are political and ethical concerns that must be centered in SDG planning. Instead of policies that separate conservation from economic planning, ecological thinking demands governance frameworks that integrate both human and more-than-human needs.
Drawing from Anna Tsing's concept of multispecies entanglements (Ejsing, 2023), the Mekong should not be seen as an isolated natural system but as a living assemblage where humans, infrastructure, and more-than-humans interact in unpredictable and uneven ways. Within this framework, the "Patchy Anthropocene" (Tsing et al., 2019), Tsing's notion of an era where the effects of human activity are unevenly distributed across landscapes becomes visible in Chiang Khong. The Mekong does not experience human impact uniformly. Some stretches of the river remain relatively intact, while hydropower projects, sediment loss, and biodiversity collapse deeply disrupt others. This perspective shifts sustainability beyond traditional policy frameworks by recognizing that rivers, fish, sediment flows, and climate patterns are not background variables but active co-producers of development outcomes, though their roles are increasingly fractured by human-driven environmental change. This approach challenges conventional sustainability narratives, urging policymakers to acknowledge the interdependencies between ecological and social systems through the vernacular lens of everyday life, where the Mekong's ecosystem and Chiang Khong's communities continuously shape one another's uncertain future within this patchy, uneven Anthropocene.
The Mekong Giant Catfish and Multispecies Governance
The Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), once an integral part of Chiang Khong's fisheries and cultural identity, is now critically endangered due to dams blocking migration routes, sediment loss, and changing water temperatures (Baird & Hogan, 2023). Current conservation strategies under SDG 14 (Life Below Water) focus on technical solutions such as fishery bans and hatchery programs. Yet, they fail to address the broader systemic forces driving ecological decline, such as hydropower-driven water fluctuations, disrupted sediment flows, and declining aquatic food sources.
The Mekong giant catfish, when seen not only as an endangered species but as part of the river's living system, reveals the Patchy Anthropocene, a fragmented and uneven landscape shaped by human actions like dam construction, sand mining, and sediment loss. In some parts of the river, native species like the giant catfish and freshwater shrimps are disappearing, unable to survive the changes. Yet in other areas, invasive species such as golden apple snails and water hyacinths spread and adapt to the disturbed conditions. Some sections of the Mekong remain surprisingly healthy, where sediment flows, and fish migrations still support local communities, while other sections face serious collapse, marked by declining fish stocks, eroded riverbanks, and broken ecological cycles. This patchy reality is shaped by the interactions of many forces, such as humans who build dams and extract sand, giant catfish struggling to survive, invasive species finding new niches, river spirits still honored in local beliefs, and sediments whose disrupted movements change the riverbed itself. Together, these human and more-than-human actors create a river system full of uneven losses, unexpected adaptations, and fragile pockets of resilience.
The Mekong giant catfish now faces a fragmented and degraded river system, no longer the continuous migratory corridor it once relied upon. Hydropower dams, such as Xayaburi and Don Sahong, have obstructed critical upstream spawning routes, severing access to traditional breeding grounds in northern Thailand and Laos. Seasonal flooding, which is historically synchronized with catfish reproductive cycles, has been disrupted by dam operations that prioritize energy production over ecological rhythms. Water releases are now irregular and unpredictable, decoupling vital life stages from natural environmental cues. In response to declining populations, hatchery programs have attempted to breed and release juvenile catfish into the river artificially. However, these efforts often fail to replicate the complex interdependencies of the wild river system, where larvae once depended on sediment-rich waters, abundant food sources, and dynamic floodplain habitats. As a result, the survival of the Mekong giant catfish is increasingly determined by human-controlled infrastructure rather than the natural flows that once shaped its life history.
This patchy Anthropocene, where some stretches of the Mekong remain habitable while others become biological dead zones, exposes the limits of human-centered conservation. Without recognizing the entanglement of fish, water flows, sediments, and human infrastructures, SDG strategies will remain disconnected from the lived realities of the river itself, failing to restore the multispecies resilience necessary for true sustainability. Thus, a multispecies governance approach (Sheikh et al., 2023) would reframe the catfish not as an isolated species in need of human intervention but as an ecological indicator of river health. Its survival should be integrated into water management policies rather than treated as a secondary concern. Conservation efforts must move beyond species-centric protection to a river system-level approach, recognizing that the catfish's survival depends on the health of sediment flows, aquatic food webs, and seasonal flooding patterns. A genuinely localized SDG strategy should link SDG 14 (biodiversity protection) with SDG 6 (clean water) and SDG 15 (terrestrial ecosystems) to create a holistic, ecosystem-based governance framework.
The Naga, Local Knowledge, and Ecological SDG Narratives
In Chiang Khong, the Naga, a mythical serpent believed to reside in the Mekong, embodies a deep spiritual and ecological connection between people and the river (Andaya, 2016). For centuries, local fishers and elders have interpreted floods, fish movements, and river changes through the Naga, using these insights to adapt to shifting environmental conditions. According to local legends, the Mekong River was formed by the movements of two Naga kings. These serpentine beings are believed to have slithered through the land, their paths carving out the riverbeds that became the Mekong and the nearby Nan River. In Chiang Khong, the reverence for the Naga is evident in various cultural practices. Local temples often feature Naga imagery, with serpent motifs adorning staircases and entrances, symbolizing protection and a sacred connection to the river. These artistic representations reflect the community's respect for the Naga and its association with water and fertility.
In local cosmology, the Naga embodies the Mekong River's sacredness, vitality, and interconnectedness with human and more-than-human worlds. However, the river is no longer seen as a self-sustaining and spiritually balanced entity. The Patchy Anthropocene, marked by fragmented development, uneven ecological degradation, and shifting cultural landscapes, has disrupted the spiritual significance of the Mekong alongside its physical flows, weakening the cultural and ecological connections that once sustained life along the riverbanks.In some parts of Chiang Khong, the Naga remains a guiding symbol, reinforcing seasonal taboos and conservation ethics that align with ecological rhythms. However, in other areas, where hydropower expansion, sediment loss, and economic pressures have disconnected people from traditional river knowledge, the Naga's influence has faded, overshadowed by a development model that prioritizes infrastructure over intimacy with the environment. This uneven presence of the Naga reflects the uneven sustainability efforts in the region, where some policies integrate ecological respect while others treat the Mekong purely as an economic asset. If SDG localization continues to marginalize vernacular environmental logic, it risks not only eroding biodiversity but also weakening the narratives that have long connected communities to the river's changing rhythms, leaving them more vulnerable to the uncertainties of the Anthropocene.
Conclusion: Beyond Human-Centered Development is the Future for the Mekong
In Chiang Khong, sustainability does not unfold neatly; the uneven, unpredictable realities of the Patchy Anthropocene shape it. This era is marked by fragmented development, where human impacts do not spread uniformly but create broken landscapes of disruption, adaptation, and fragile survival. In the Mekong River, some stretches remain ecologically active, while others are severely degraded by dam construction, sediment loss, and shifting water flows. Certain species, like the giant catfish, face collapse, while invasive species find new footholds in altered environments. Cultural landscapes, once anchored by the sacred presence of the Naga and the rhythms of seasonal flooding, are also destabilized, revealing that ecological and spiritual systems are deeply entangled in these patchy transformations. The Mekong in Chiang Khong embodies the core features of the Patchy Anthropocene: uneven degradation, localized resilience, unpredictable ecological shifts, and the breakdown of former certainties. Recognizing this fragmented reality challenges traditional, linear models of sustainability, demanding new approaches that are flexible, relational, and attentive to the river's fractured but still living worlds.
Yet, the way SDGs are measured still prioritizes economic growth, energy production, and infrastructure expansion, treating the river as a resource to be managed rather than a living system to be sustained. This approach fails to recognize the shifting, fragile, and deeply interconnected relationships between people, water, and ecosystems. To move forward, we need a more adaptive and relational way of thinking about sustainability, one that listens to local knowledge, respects the river's ecological rhythms, and supports community-led conservation rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all development model. Instead of focusing only on GDP and megaprojects, SDG localization should emphasize river health, sustainable fisheries, and small-scale eco-tourism, acknowledging that progress is never uniform or complete but an ongoing process of balance and care.
If SDGs are to be truly meaningful in Chiang Khong, we must let go of the idea that development is purely a human-driven project. The Mekong is not a natural resource, but it is an ecological source, a force that shapes and sustains life beyond human needs. In the Patchy Anthropocene, where change is constant and uneven, clinging to rigid, growth-focused SDG targets will only deepen ecological harm and cultural disconnection. Instead, sustainability should be about coexistence, adaptability, and shared responsibility. This means recognizing that fish migrations, sediment flows, and local traditions are just as important as economic indicators when shaping policies.
An SDG approach that goes beyond just human interests, one that respects the natural rhythms of the Mekong, the knowledge of local communities, and the balance of life that depends on the river, is the way forward. By prioritizing flexibility, community-led conservation, and ecological responsibility, Chiang Khong can create a future where both people and the river sustain each other rather than one thriving at the expense of the other.
Thanks to Dr. Yuki Miyake, Head of the Disaster Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (DRES) Program, Asian Research Center for International Development, School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University, for supervising this article.
References