Environmental and biodiversity protection

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has expressed strong support for Laos over its green growth strategy, adding that the inter-governmental organisation is ready to share its resources to ensure this initiative is sustainable. “Green growth is obviously a pathway to sustainable development and I’m pleased to ...

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Conservation International, in collaboration with the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, disseminated a report May 10 on the Freshwater Health Index, a tool to assess freshwater ecosystem health in the Sesan, Srepok and Sekong rivers, which are major tributaries ...

A river basin hosting three Mekong tributaries and providing a livelihood for 3.4 million people is under threat because of the construction of 65 dams, according to a study issued in Phnom Penh on Thursday by conservation groups. Conservative International (CI) and the International Union for ...

The Goldman Environmental Prize, the world’s most prestigious award for grassroots environmental activism, has announced seven winners this year. Six of the winners are women. Dubbed the Green Nobel Prize, the annual award honors grassroots environmental heroes from Europe, Asia, North America, Central and South ...

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde’s cautionary words (April 13) on the debt burden likely to be borne by the 70 countries destined to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative are to be welcomed. Beijing has proposed major “Silk Road” infrastructure developments linking China ...

The Lancang-Mekong Environmental Protection Center has been inaugurated in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province. The center aims to deepen cooperation in environmental protection between the six countries along the river, known in China as the Lancang River. Keep reading ...

Researchers backed by multi-million-dollar grants from Nasa are heading to Southeast Asia’s Mekong River region to find ways to improve dams so they are less harmful to people and the environment. Keep reading ...

In mid February, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) issued a letter to the Rak Chiang Khong Group, a Thai Mekong community network. The letter stated that a decision on signing the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Pak Beng Dam in Laos has ...

A Beijing-based NGO filed a lawsuit on Friday against the companies responsible for developing a hydropower station near a nature reserve in southwestern China, citing numerous environmental violations. Construction of the Huilong Mountain Hydropower Station, in Yunnan’s verdant Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, commenced in October 2015 ...

Satellite imagery published by NASA on Saturday reveals the extent of flooding caused by the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam, and the change in the landscape in just one year. “The Operational Land Imagery (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite captured these before and after natural-color ...