Striking a balance between conservation and development at the heart of Mekong struggle

[webfact]

Striking a balance between conservation and development at the heart of Mekong struggle
By Pratch Rujivanarom
The Nation

 

A woman with her baby just gets off from the boat at Pak Beng pier. Photo by Visarut Sankham

 

BANGKOK: -- DEPENDING on who you speak to, there are naturally differing perspectives in regard to the future of the Mekong River, as most people living along the river look for a sustainable future through conservation of the existing ecosystem, while governments seek balanced resource usage and benefit-sharing arrived at via diplomacy and negotiation.

 

The Lower Mekong has been a hotspot for mega-projects and developments initiated by the governments of Mekong River Basin countries and big private investors. 

 

Many of them have already constructed on the mainstream of the river – for instance, the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams – while many other projects, such as the river’s navigation-channel improvement and Pak Beng Dam, are scheduled to be implemented soon.

 

As the fate of the river will be changed forever by these projects, people along the banks of the Mekong will be in the front row when it comes to experiencing changes, which they look at with concern.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30306290

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-02-14

[oldsailor35]

"Tarnishing the Police Forces image"   What a joke, they have and are doing that all by themselves.

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Striking a balance between conservation and development at the heart of Mekong struggle

There is no balance anymore. The conservation team has very few members in their lineup. The development line (greed) stretches on forever. Listening to these stupid politicians its development at any cost. 

[mki8]

conservation = People that actually inhabit an area looking for ways their family can survive in future.

 

Development = People living elsewhere destroying an area they do not inhabit and any life in it to make a profit.

[waldroj]

Regardless of what anyone may say about balanced management of the lower Mekong, the unfortunate fact of the geography of this river is that "...about half of its nearly 5,000-kilometre length...is under Chinese sovereignty..." (https://is.gd/gBD116) !!!

 

The "gravity" of this situation is that, those nations downstream of the Lancang have little or no influence in how the river dragon chooses to control the hydrological cycle of its river. Accordingly, it is naive to suggest the fate of the river will be changed forever (by so-called mega-projects and developments initiated by governments of lower-Mekong countries), when that fate has already been sealed thousands of kilometres upstream !!!