Southeast Asia's Mekong River Basin is a splendid region blessed with natural beauty, unique cultures and a centuries old river-based economy. Sixty million people call the basin their home while reaping life's daily bread. Change is afoot along the 4800-kilometer Mekong River however, as nearly 100 hydroelectric dam construction projects are currently being planned. While some projects thus far exist only on the drawing board, others are moving headlong towards the day the first sack of concrete arrives.
According to Meenakshi Raman, Chair, Friends of the Earth International, "Adaptation efforts should benefit the poor and protect ecosystems, livelihoods and human security. More emphasis and priority should be given to energy efficiency and renewable energy, especially solar and wind power."
Overall, the Mekong is a habitat for 1,300 types of fish, including a nearly extinct freshwater dolphin specie known as the Irrawaddy. The dolphin, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 170 in the Mekong and less than 1000 worldwide, inhabits small sections of southern Laos and the central Cambodian province of Kratie, site of the proposed Sambor dam on the mainstream.
Is dam construction the best way to provide the lower Mekong River Basin with sorely needed energy? Not according to Guy Lanza, Director of the Environmental Science Program at the University of Massachusetts (USA). In an email interview that recently appeared in The Cambodia Daily, Lanza, an expert who has studied the region for nearly 40 years remarked, "The most pressing issues related to hydroelectric dam projects include ecological damage and human suffering. Planners tend to view water in terms of quantity rather than quality."
Virtually all funding for dam construction will come from China through state-owned financial institutions such as the Chinese Export-Import Bank. There is scant information regarding the financial details for these projects available to the public however, and interestingly, China has never joined the MRC. Stakeholder Burma (Myanmar) ranked last in Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) out of 179 countries listed while Cambodia, (162) and Laos (168) didn't fare much better.
Whether government policymakers provide full disclosure to the public remains to be seen, but whatever the case, today's way of life along the Mekong River is certain to change.
According to Meenakshi Raman, Chair, Friends of the Earth International, "Adaptation efforts should benefit the poor and protect ecosystems, livelihoods and human security. More emphasis and priority should be given to energy efficiency and renewable energy, especially solar and wind power."
Overall, the Mekong is a habitat for 1,300 types of fish, including a nearly extinct freshwater dolphin specie known as the Irrawaddy. The dolphin, whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 170 in the Mekong and less than 1000 worldwide, inhabits small sections of southern Laos and the central Cambodian province of Kratie, site of the proposed Sambor dam on the mainstream.
Is dam construction the best way to provide the lower Mekong River Basin with sorely needed energy? Not according to Guy Lanza, Director of the Environmental Science Program at the University of Massachusetts (USA). In an email interview that recently appeared in The Cambodia Daily, Lanza, an expert who has studied the region for nearly 40 years remarked, "The most pressing issues related to hydroelectric dam projects include ecological damage and human suffering. Planners tend to view water in terms of quantity rather than quality."
Virtually all funding for dam construction will come from China through state-owned financial institutions such as the Chinese Export-Import Bank. There is scant information regarding the financial details for these projects available to the public however, and interestingly, China has never joined the MRC. Stakeholder Burma (Myanmar) ranked last in Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) out of 179 countries listed while Cambodia, (162) and Laos (168) didn't fare much better.
Whether government policymakers provide full disclosure to the public remains to be seen, but whatever the case, today's way of life along the Mekong River is certain to change.
John Brown Photojournalist On LIGHTSTALKERS
My Mondo Library Photographs
My Photoshelter Archive Homepage
My Mondo Library Photographs
My Photoshelter Archive Homepage
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