The Mekong Delta, for instance, accounts for half of Vietnam’s rice production and boasts freshwater fisheries that feed millions. They are also home to an array of wildlife and are important areas for fish breeding. And yet, such deltas are sinking and shrinking at an alarming rate.

With more poorly planned hydropower dams, in-channel sand mining, uncoordinated coastal development and excessive groundwater extraction, priceless ecosystems and livelihoods of millions of people in Asian deltas face increasing threats from climate change.

To stop six of the continent’s largest delta systems – Chao Phraya, Ganges- Meghna-Brahmaputra, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong and Pearl – from sinking and shrinking, WWF is working with partners to catalyse unprecedented political and financial investment in ‘building with nature’. We seek to protect and restore the natural river and coastal processes that replenish deltas and will keep them above the rising seas by:

• Securing leadership and political commitments to improve the resilience of Asia’s delta systems, while increasing community participation in decision-making processes
• Strengthening regional and transboundary collaboration to implement solutions to address the loss of resilience of deltas
• Mobilising financing to build nature investments for each delta