Mekong Commons
Restoring the Can Gio mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta
Covering 75,740 ha or a little more than the size of the island state of Singapore, the Can Gio or Sac biosphere reserve located in the Mekong Delta is rich in biodiversity, and listed as a biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and ...
Salinity intrusion is leading to freshwater troubles in coastal Vietnam
In recent years, increased salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta, due to changing climate and fluctuations in river water levels especially during the dry season in coastal regions, has affected agriculture especially rice farming livelihoods. Salinity intrusion has also severely affected domestic water supplies. Saltwater ...
Pham Tran Lan Phuong
The data commons: What lies ahead for the Mekong region?
Open data access and sharing in the Mekong is spreading. Open data can increase public participation, aid greater transparency in government, and improve resource governance, city planning or public health monitoring. A number of initiatives, both private sector and civil society, are emerging. However, a ...
Mai Lan
Lower Klity Creek villagers: Living with lead poisoning
Over the past five decades, a lead-processing mine and factory in Kanchanaburi province has released toxic waste including lead into the rivers and creeks of the Lower Klity creek, home to about 400 ethnic Karen people. The factory operation began in the mid-1960s and, though ...
Hanoi’s iconic lakes need urgent clean-up help
One sunny morning in October 2016, Hanoi residents living around the city’s West Lake woke up to a foul and irritating smell. “We could not bear the overwhelming smell,” Ms Huong, a local resident said, wearing a mask while inside her home. “But we have nowhere ...
Diverting the Mekong River into Thailand: The Khong-Loei-Chi-Mun project
Recently, the Royal Irrigation Department has reinvigorated its irrigation plans through the “Mekong-Loei-Chi-Mun River Management and Diversion by Gravity in the Northeast” project. It entails diverting water from the Mekong River’s mainstream into the Loei River in Northeastern Thailand, which would then be connected via tunnels ...
Pak Mun Dam: 25 years after World Bank’s loan, problems remains
The Pak Mun Dam was constructed on the Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong River, in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand. Preliminary construction of the dam began in mid-1990. The dam was met by intense opposition not only by the local communities but also international ...
