What's in a Name: The Water Series

People often tell us: “Your products have interesting names.” We’ll take it as a compliment.

The truth is, the names are also meaningful—they “tell” environmental stories. Admittedly, the stories don’t always jump out. So, to do justice to them, we’re going to write about and expand on them here and place them under the rubric, “What’s in a Name.” The plan is to write such posts often, perhaps not every week.

The Nukleus Water Series

We kick things off with “The Water Series.” There’s a reason why we’ve chosen this series as our starting point. First of all, 2013 is the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC). Second of all, it’s the year of the Water Snake. A mere coincidence? Maybe.

Anyway, the official slogan for IYWC is “Water, water everywhere, only if we share.” Which happens to be the key message of “The Water Series.”

In the Series, we tell the story of the Mekong, one of Asia’s great rivers. After she leaves her lofty birthplace in the Tibetan Plateau, she traverses six Asian nations—Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam—and vanishes into the South China Sea.

For the millions living in the Mekong basin, the river is life. They depend on her for food, water and their livelihoods. The six nations blessed with the Mekong’s bounty ought to wisely share her gifts among themselves. Upstream or downstream, they’re all in the same boat.

The imprudent sharing of resources may have dire consequences. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there’re altogether 88 proposed dam developments in the Mekong region, spread unevenly among the six countries. If all come to fruition, it’s estimated that nearly 38% of the fish population—“the primary source of protein for 60 million people”—could be destroyed. There’re, of course, other impacts—you can learn more by watching this enlightening video.

We’re also told that the Mekong is secondly only to the Amazon in terms of fish biodiversity. It’s home to amazing creatures such as the Mekong giant catfish (the world’s largest freshwater fish species) and the Mekong giant stingray. Unbridled development can threaten their existence. Without them, the world would be a far less wonderful place. As Stuart Chapman, the Conservation Director for WWF’s Greater Mekong Programme has urged, “It’s important that we leave a living planet for the next generation.”