Last Updated on April 8, 2025
Villagers from northeastern Cambodia express their concerns about the proposed Lower Sesan 2 dam project. (Part 1/3. View the rest of the film on youtube)
A participatory video project, five villages representing three different ethnic groups from northeastern Cambodia (Lao, Pnong and Brao indigenous peoples) express their concerns about the proposed Lower Sesan 2 dam project.
Located on the Sesan river in Cambodia’s Stung Treng Province Province, the Lower Sesan 2 dam will block two of the largest rivers in the Mekong River Basin, forcing tens of thousands of people to relocate.
Noted in a Joint Statement by the Sesan, Srepok, Sekong Community Network, and examined in the report, “Best Practices in Compensation and Resettlement for Large Dams: The Case of the planned Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Project in Northeastern Cambodia”, the Lower Sesan 2 dam will also severely diminish the fish stocks of nearly 100 villages in the region, as well as others throughout the Mekong Ribver Basin, near the Tonle Sap Lake in Central Cambodia, the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and the middle Mekong River in Laos and
Thailand. It will also effect:
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief