Upriver dams and a devastating drought this year brought the Mekong to its lowest level ever recorded. And the combination has left the Tonle Sap Lake—Southeast Asia’s largest—in crisis.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
No scientific evidence Mekong Delta will go under: Vietnam PM
“That information is just a study that has not been appraised yet and no state agency has come to such a conclusion,” he told a National Assembly (NA) meeting in Hanoi.
The mighty Mekong at crisis point
Something is very wrong in the Mekong and these trends are continuing as mainland Southeast Asia now is fully transitioning, in a premature manner, into its dry season.
In Myanmar, China’s BRI Projects Are Old Wine in a New Bottle
New Transnational Institute brief shows how China rebrands and repackages dormant or delayed projects in Myanmar under the BRI banner — projects that lack transparency and consultation with affected communities.
There are lessons for India from China on dams
The Mekong Basin illustrates, giant upstream dams contribute to river depletion and intensify parched conditions. The spate of dam building in Asian autocracies is exacerbating already-fraught water security disputes.
China-Laos railway tunnel construction making breakthroughs
China’s latest engineering and construction update (from the Mekong near Luang Prabang) on its Belt and Road Initiative to convert Laos from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.
Displaced by Clashes Over Amber, Villagers in Myanmar’s Kachin State Risk Death to Secretly Mine It
Some 5,000 IDPs like Ah-Ser risk arrest by the Tatmadaw to mine amber in the area. Sometimes, soldiers use sniffer dogs to search for and arrest illegal miners.
Laos attempts to rebuild flood victims’ lives amid budget constraints
Government provides limited financial support to affected families so is continuing to ask organisations, businesses and individuals to contribute what they can in the way of monetary donations to help victims.