The last remaining Irrawaddy dolphins have stopped coming to a stretch of the Mekong river in Preah Rumkel commune due to the Don Sahong hydropower dam in nearby Laos, locals have warned.
Category: Laos
Rebuttal to MRC CEO Statement: “Hydropower Development Will Not Kill the Mekong River”
US-based Viet Ecology Foundation responds to MRC CEO recent media interview on the future of the Pak Beng dam project.
Source of Mekong, Yellow and Yangtze rivers drying up
National park could help save the headwaters of the Tibetan plateau that are evaporating because of climate change, says Chinese geologist Yang Yong
A look inside Xayaburi dam
The Mekong Eye had a rare opportunity to visit the Xayaburi dam. This photo essay shows its progress.
International Women’s Day: How a “changing world” can affect equality in decision-making
What happens when the change in work comes about due to more major livelihood changes that transform the gender dynamics of work and decision-making in whole communities?
The Bird’s Eye View: What Endangered Birds Tell Us About the Risks of Mekong Development
The Thai government started 2017 announcing another major commitment to transportation expansion: US$25 billion to finance futuristic high-speed trains, super highways and expanded sea and airports. Far less glitzy but immediately controversial, however, was one of its final transportation acts of 2016: preparing to restart, after 13 years, rapid blasting and river channelization to clear the Mekong River for navigation just below its arrival from Myanmar.
Striking a balance between conservation and development at the heart of Mekong struggle
DEPENDING on who you speak to, there are naturally differing perspectives in regard to the future of the Mekong River, as most people living along the river look for a sustainable future through conservation of the existing ecosystem, while governments seek balanced resource usage and benefit-sharing arrived at via diplomacy and negotiation.
The soul of the Mekong is in serious trouble
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week asked reporters why non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental activists and academics continue to protest against the planned blasting of rapids in the Mekong River.
He said many of these protesters are outsiders, meaning people who do not live by the riverside, do not fish its waters or make a living from the river and do not, in fact, have any stake in the river at all.
New study shows significant impact of Chinese dams on Mekong
Large dams on the Mekong River in China’s Yunnan Province have considerable impacts on downstream river flows, new research by myself and colleagues at Aalto University in Finland and published recently in the Journal of Hydropower has shown.
Drowning out traditions
The smiles that once brightened faces in Luangtong, a small community in Laos’ northwest Oudomxay province, have disappeared. These days the residents appear defeated, stunned by the knowledge that before long the land that has sustained them for generations will be submerged under the waters behind Pak Beng Dam.