Green 2: By the River Palms. This type of palm is popular in many parts of Southeast Asia, especially those lined by the Mekong River and its tributaries, mainly because their fronds provide a sustainable source of thatch materials that villagers weave and use for the roofs and walls of their houses. Indeed, in many tropical villages, gathering palm fronds and weaving them into roofing and walling material is also a vital source of livelihood for poor households during the dry season when the rice fields have been planted and harvested and employment opportunities have become scarce.
This type of palm tree can rapidly replenish harvested fronds and likes to grow along wet or water-logged riverbanks where they serve as refuge and nesting grounds for river fish, as sustainable protection against soil erosion and as a defensive wall against the rapidly encroaching tides.
