Manila: The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it has approved a 25.57 million-dollar grant package to protect the environment and biodiversity in the six countries bordering Indochina’s Mekong River.

The assistance would support a core environment program to address likely stresses on the environment from economic development in the Mekong, the Philippines-based lender said in a statement.

“We are seeing a trend where the demand for products — whether forestry, fisheries, agriculture, industrialization, energy, or nature-based tourism
– is increasing yet the natural resources to meet these demands are depleting,” said ADB natural resources specialist Javed Hussain Mir.

The Mekong flows through Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.