Environment and natural resources
Citizen guards protect fish stocks on a fragile river
In the rainy season, shrubs and small trees are submerged in the Sesan River. The Sesan runs from east to west from Vietnam’s central highlands across the northern Ratanakiri region of Cambodia where it flows into the great Mekong River. [] But this community in Cambodia’s northern ...
Oxfam
Irrawaddy dolphin numbers rise
Nine critically endangered Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins, were born this year, but two of them died, the World Wildlife Fund has said. In a statement issued on Friday, the WWF said the population continues to be threatened by illegal fishing and hydropower dams.Keep reading ...
Pech Sotheary
Lancang-Mekong protection makes gains
Environmental officials and experts from China and five other countries discussed strategic goals to promote regional environmental cooperation along the Lancang-Mekong River in a meeting on Wednesday in Beijing. The river, an international body of water, crosses all six countries-China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and ...
Huang Mingrui
The Mekong, Dammed to Die
In Laos, the lush forests are alive with the whines of drills that pierce the air. On the Mekong, a giant concrete wall rises slowly above the trees. The Don Sahong dam is a strong symbol, not only for a power-hungry Asia but also for ...
Pascal Laureyn
Water and power: Mega-dams, mega-damage?
‘Water grabbing’ refers to a situation in which public or private entities are able to take control of, or reallocate, precious water resources for profit or for power — and at the expense of local communities and the ecosystems on which their livelihoods are based.[] Many ...
SCIDEV
Việt Nam leader calls for stronger ties at Mekong-Japan, ASEAN-UN summits
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc led a Vietnamese delegation to the 9th Mekong-Japan Summit and the 9th ASEAN-UN Summit that took place in Manila, the Philippines, on Monday. The 9th Mekong-Japan Summit drew leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Việt Nam and Japan. Keep reading ...
VNS Reporter
Don't touch the Mekong
[] A collection of shoals, reefs and islets off Chiang Rai province is the only serious block for 500-tonne Chinese riverboats past Thailand and all the way down to Luang Prabang in Laos. Beijing is once again applying economic and diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister ...
Bankok Post staff
The other side of the Mekong development debate
China’s Mekong development plan has stirred debate as potentially becoming an environmental and social peril for downstream Mekong countries. The country’s navigation channel improvement plan has recently attracted attention from environmentalists, activists, and the media alike.The pace has picked up since the middle of this ...
Phan Tuan Phan (CEO, MRC)
Is sustainable development along the Mekong possible?
[] Sustainable development of the Mekong basin is too important to be persistently ignored. Approximately 284 million people, including around 400 ethno-linguistic groupings, live on the Mekong River. A majority of Mekong communities are considered “primary producers,” as they rely on the river’s ecosystems for their survival through ...
Linh Tong
From heat stress to malnutrition, climate change is already making us sick
Climate change is already having an impact on our health, by exposing people to dangerous heat waves and more extreme weather, according to a new study. [] The report, called The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, is meant to track progress on health and climate change ...
Alessandra Potenza