China strengthens Lancang-Mekong cooperation in environmental protection
A Lancang-Mekong environmental cooperation center was inaugurated in Beijing Tuesday to promote sustainable development among Lancang-Mekong countries. The center aims to promote coordination on regional environmental protection policies and concrete projects and provide capacity building for regional cooperation, said Chinese Vice Minister of Environmental Protection ...
Mu Xuequan
Pollution, Overfishing Threaten Important Cambodian Lake
A rich fishery in Southeast Asia is at risk because of overfishing, pollution and hydroelectric dams. The Tonle Sap is a freshwater lake in the middle of Cambodia. The lake shrinks and expands by thousands of kilometers, depending on the season.[]“There are plans to build ...
Kevin Enochs
Drastic reduction in sediment flows in Mekong River much faster and larger than expected, new study shows
A new study shows that sediment transport and deposition in the Mekong River have been drastically altered due in part to infrastructure development, riverbed mining, land use change, and climate change. The Mekong region is experiencing rapid economic growth. Although the social and environmental effects ...
UNESCO
Tourism players warn against overcrowding on Mekong River
It is essential that tourism is sensitively managed if the target of attracting four million visitors to the Mekong River by 2020 is achieved, tourism stakeholders warn. At 4,350km in length, the Mekong River runs from China to Vietnam, slicing through six countries that offer ...
Marissa Carruthers
Annual Mekong River Commission Council meeting considered and approved countries financial contribution and a number of basin-wide strategies
Today, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council comprising water and environment ministers of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam gathered for its Twenty-Fourth Meeting in Pattaya, Thailand. The meeting was to review the MRC work in 2017 and make a decision on future direction ...
Mekong River Commission
Save the Mekong Coalition raises concerns over hydropower dams on Mekong River
On the occasion of the Mekong River Commission’s 24th Council Meeting, the Save the Mekong Coalition has raised concerns over the ongoing development of hydropower projects on the Mekong mainstream and within the basin, despite evidence that these projects are undermining regional food security and ...
Save the Mekong Coalition
China bets on mega projects in Tibet
China’s well-tested mantra that has powered its economic rise — build quality infrastructure and the rest will follow — is in full play in Tibet. The Qinghai-Tibet railway, the 1,956-km track passing over bridges and through tunnels, has already made history. []Several major rivers — the ...
Atul Aneja
Most Ocean Plastic Pollution Carried by 10 Rivers
The equivalent of one garbage truck full of plastic waste is dumped into the world’s oceans every minute, equal to 8 million tons a year. New research suggests that 90 percent of that waste gets into the oceans through 10 major river systems.[] Two of the ...
Henry Ridgwell
What Mekong Delta Communities Can Teach Us About Access to Safe Water
Among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) perhaps no other topic has more of an impact on global progress than water. Water management determines the sustainability of industries, ecosystems, peace, and livelihoods, and critically impacts human health. [] Half of all the bottled water that we sampled in ...
Zita Sebesvari
Cambodia-Laos border fisheries management plan aimed to realise a 10% increase in fish stock
Targeting a 10-percent increase in fish abundance in the Mekong and Sekong Rivers by 2021, fisheries experts from Cambodia and Lao PDR shared today the progress in fish monitoring activities that set a baseline, and continued discussions on the formation of a joint fisheries management ...
Mekong River Commission
