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.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Tanintharyi officials say work on Dawei SEZ could restart
Regional government officials visited Japan last month to discuss that country’s potential participation in the SEZ and reported strong interest.
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.
Environmental groups voice opposition to IFC dam workshops
Leading Burmese environmental groups, including Burma Rivers Network (BRN) and Save the Salween Network (SSN), today released a statement, voicing strong opposition to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which they say is currently promoting various hydropower projects in areas that are primarily conflict zones.
Before the Flood: can the Bunong culture survive Cambodia’s Sesan II dam?
At a time when much of Cambodia is developing at a breakneck speed, where smartphones and BMWs have become almost as ubiquitous on the streets of Phnom Penh as saffron-robed monks, the village of Kbal Romeas inhabits a world apart. Tucked deep into the jungles of the country’s untamed northeast, the village has no convenience stores, streetlights, or paved roads. Instead, a visitor would be more likely to find a stretched snakeskin nailed to a piece of teak, drying in the midday sun as a testament to the animist beliefs of the people who live there.
Minister discusses dams and hydropower with Chinese firm
Top officials from Myanmar have discussed dams and hydropower projects with one of China’s biggest hydropower companies.
Pak Beng Hydropower project looks set to move forward
The construction of the Pak Beng Hydropower Project is expected to begin at the end of this year after reaching agreement among Lower Mekong countries.
Mekong EIA “Dream Team” Reaches the Final Mile
After an eighteen month journey, a team of civil society and government experts from across the Mekong Region is poised to transform the way communities are engaged in development.
The team has developed the Guidelines on Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the Mekong Region, which lays out a practical approach for governments, companies and communities looking to improve the social and environmental impacts of development projects such as dams, mines, power plants and economic zones.
Mekong giant catfish being driven to extinction in natural habitat
The Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) is ranked as critically endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The largest freshwater fish in the world, its natural habitat is the Mekong River from China to Cambodia and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia.
Mekong diplomacy: a bridge that has failed
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) bears an enormous weight on its shoulders, overseeing both the development and the protection of a channel on whom millions of people depend. But the commission has proved powerless in the latter mission, failing to protect or involve communities in hydropower projects that threaten their livelihoods.