Unlocking Sustainable Community Forestry in the Ayeyarwady Delta

Inter Press Service – In November 2018, GGGI have been exploring potential investments in agriculture, forestry and fishery value chains that not only increase economic and social development, but also reduce deforestation pressures and increase the extent of mangrove forests. GGGI investment, forestry policy and bio-economy specialists have been consulting with communities, NGOs and Read More…

Troubled waters

The Nation – Mekong’s future remains uncertain as Thailand lights fuse on rapids-blasting project As a new year dawns, the waters of the Mekong River remain turbulent with uncertainty. While many take holidays and prepare for the new year, the people of the Mekong face an unknown future. Earlier this month, residents along the Mekong in Chiang Rai were preparing to participate in a Read More…

Dams threaten traditional way of life in Mekong Basin

Nikkei – Sak Siam, 69, chief of Chnok Tru, a village in central Cambodia, is worried. The floating village of about 1,700 households is located on a tributary of the Mekong River. "The villagers will be unable to survive if the fish catch decreases further," he said. Hydroelectric dams constructed or under construction up the Mekong, in China and other countries, have changed the flow and Read More…

Lancang-Mekong Cooperation could play bigger role in regional river…

Xinhua Net – Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) could play a bigger role in the protection and development of the Lancang-Mekong river, Cambodian experts and officials said in recent interviews with Xinhua. Te Navuth, secretary general of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC), said that for Cambodia, the main concerns over the Lancang-Mekong river's protection are climate change, Read More…

Hundreds of fish species identified in the Mekong

Khmer Times – The Mekong River Commission has recorded nearly 500 species of fish in the Mekong river basin, with the majority of them native to Cambodian territories. Previously, the MRC and researches had estimated that there were 1,148 species of fish. However, MRC said in a news release yesterday that it has updated its Mekong Fish Species Database by identifying 474 species of Read More…

Cambodia hails opening of country’s largest dam despite opposition

Phys.Org – Cambodian premier Hun Sen on Monday opened the country's largest hydropower scheme, swatting aside dire warnings about the environmental impact of the $780 million project and its effect on local communities.  Backed by Chinese funding, the impoverished Southeast Asian nation has embarked on a dam-building spree in recent years, as it tries to boost its energy capacity Read More…

Mekong Delta needs ecosystem-based solutions to climate change

Vietnam Plus – Ecosystem-based solutions are vitally important for the Mekong Delta to adapt to climate change in the decades to come, speakers said at a seminar held in Can Tho over the weekend. Dr Le Anh Tuan of Can Tho University’s Research Institute for Climate Change, said that ecosystem-based solutions could reduce vulnerability and improve resilience to natural disasters and Read More…

CSU team wins top honour for international fish passage project

Charles Stuart University – A research team led by Charles Sturt University (CSU) has received the Distinguished Project Award for an international project seeking to protect the health and livelihoods of millions of people living in the Mekong Basin of Southeast Asia. The team, led by Dr Lee Baumgartner, and their project titled “Fish passage research and development at low-head Read More…

Helping Fish Move Freely: Study On Target Species And Swimming…

Science Trends – Dams have expanded rapidly in the world. People focus on issues ranging from irrigation, hydroelectric power, water resource allocation, and ecological restoration and believe it will facilitate future operations. Although dams carry out enormous economic benefits and promote the development of society, they also influence the hydrological regime, water chemistry, and Read More…

Researchers seek alternatives to Mekong River hydropower dam

Cornell Chronicle – The Mekong River, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to the South China Sea, is a hotbed of ecological diversity. The roughly 60 million people who live in the region, many in poverty, depend on the river and its tributaries for food and income. But a surge in hydropower projects is threatening to plunge the Mekong River Read More…