Khmer Times –
The Mekong River Commission and the Japan International Cooperation Agency have launched a joint study on forest conservation and river basin management in the lower Mekong aimed at improving management and environmental conservation of the area.
The study was launched last Friday at a meeting in Laos where the MRC and JICA signed the project’s memorandum of cooperation in the presence of 40 officials from both sides.
The project will cover five Mekong countries including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam and will finish in March 2019.
Financed by the Japanese government, the project aims to determine forest cover in the Mekong basin and to contribute to environmental conservation of the area.
“The project allows us to gauge the current state of forest cover and conservation in our member states and Myanmar and provide countermeasures in terms of policy recommendations for quality basin-wide management for forest preservation,” MRC CEO Pham Tuan Phan said.
JICA senior deputy director-general Morita Takahiro said the project is a crucial mission to strike the right balance between development and nature conservation to achieve sustainable development for the basin.