Why we should care about fate of the Mekong

An Pich Hatda, chief executive officer of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), highlights the MRC’s new strategic plan, pointing out, among other things, a “need to boost the Mekong River’s ecology” and that “national power generation should be subject to a proper coordination management mechanism, and future plans must consider the full range of viable alternative generation sources that are environmentally friendly, logistically feasible and economically responsible.”

Our World Heritage is deeply tied to rivers and they need protection from dams

Despite this World Heritage status, the Mekong River, which flows through and is an integral part of Luang Prabang’s history, culture, and way of life, is under threat. A Thai-led consortium is planning to build a massive hydropower project, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) upstream from Luang Prabang. Given the proposed dam’s size and location (including its proximity to Luang Prabang City), the dam is categorized as an “extreme risk”.

Fifth Mekong dolphin calf recorded this year

Censuses conducted by the Fisheries Administration and WWF-Cambodia show 13 and nine births in 2019-2020, respectively, and eight and nine deaths, leaving the total population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Kingdom’s reaches of the Mekong at just 89. From 2007-2020 the average annual growth rate has been 1.02 per cent and the average annual death rate has been 2.14 per cent, signalling a slow demise of the gentle creatures, according to a joint report by the two organisations.