Washington — The United States will spend approximately $187 million on projects to help four nations of the Lower Mekong River basin lessen the impact of climate change on water resources, food security and the health and livelihoods of nearly 60 million people.

During the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting July 22 in Hanoi, Vietnam, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described growing cooperation between the United States and the Lower Mekong countries — Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The spending plan for 2010 covers environmental issues, health concerns, and education and training, with the largest share going to health programs.

“Managing this resource and defending it against threats like climate change and infectious disease is a transnational challenge,” Clinton told foreign ministers from the four countries at a private meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum.

“Regional cooperation is essential to meeting that challenge, to preserving the ecological diversity and fertility of the Mekong region,” she said. “We expect to continue similar levels of funding for the next two years.”

More than 60 million people in four countries live in the Lower Mekong basin, which is an area of approximately 606,000 square kilometers in Southeast Asia. The Mekong River Commission has reported that climate change most likely will increase flooding throughout the region, which will affect food production and food security.

The Lower Mekong Initiative was launched in July 2009 at the ASEAN meeting in Phuket, Thailand. The program’s objective is to promote the equitable, sustainable and cooperative development of the Mekong River, which is the world’s largest inland fishery and a transboundary resource, says Timothy Hamlin, a research associate at the Washington-based Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Project.

“The region is growing rapidly and faces many difficult decisions, especially pertaining to energy security,” Hamlin said earlier this year. “The United States can provide technology and assistance to identify and promote regional solutions to the pressing demands of energy, food and human security.”

The region faces the twin challenges of climate change and its impact on the river’s ecosystems, and the impact of expanding populations, the Mekong River Commission says.

LOWER MEKONG ASSISTANCE

The United States will spend more than $22 million this year on environmental programs in the Lower Mekong basin. One initiative will launch a three-year program to assist the four countries in developing cooperative strategies to address the impact of climate change.

A sister-river partnership was announced in May between the Mekong River Commission and the Mississippi River Commission in the United States. This partnership aims to improve the management of transboundary water resources. Work continues on the development of “Forecast Mekong,” which is a modeling tool to show the impact of climate change and some other challenges to sustainable development in the river basin.

A two-year research program has been funded among universities in the Lower Mekong countries to study persistent organic pollutants in the basin, according to the U.S. State Department.

The largest share of the funding this year is $147 million for health improvement programs that include a project targeting emerging pandemic threats in the region. The project will improve the identification of and response to new public health threats that originate in animals and aims to strengthen animal and human health systems to thwart outbreaks of infectious diseases.

A partnership is being launched to respond to infectious diseases by training health professionals and veterinarians to detect, track and contain outbreaks, and to establish a regional network to detect drug-resistant malaria. This builds on work launched at the Lower Mekong Conference on Transnational Infectious Disease Cooperation in June.

In addition to the other programs, U.S. assistance has provided HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services to more than 2 million people across the Mekong region. This has contributed to a 50 percent reduction in the HIV/AIDS infection rate in Cambodia, facilitated the provision of antiretroviral treatments in Vietnam and supported the largest clinical trial of a vaccine regimen for preventing HIV infection in Thailand, according to the State Department.

The initiative announced in Hanoi by Clinton includes $18 million for education projects that include Internet availability for poor and rural areas and a program to bring regional professionals in education, environment and health to the United States to consult with professionals in their fields.

The initiative also supports English-language training through in-country scholarships that help professionals working in the Lower Mekong region to improve communications regionally and internationally.

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LAO PDR has stepped up the protection of its wetlands by joining the Ramsar Convention. IUCN played a key role in the recent accession of Lao PDR to the international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands.

IUCN has worked with the Government of Lao PDR on the process of accession to Ramsar since 2003, with support from Sida, the IUCN Asia Regional Office and the Mekong Water Dialogues Initiative.

Upon joining the Ramsar Convention on 28 September 2010, the Government of Lao PDR will designate the country’s first two wetlands of national significance, the Xe Champhone Wetlands and the Beung Kiat Ngong Wetlands. The commitment from the Government of Lao PDR to protect its vital natural wetland resources comes at a crucial point in the nation’s rapid and transformative economic development.

“Joining the Ramsar Convention signals a strong commitment on the part of the Government of Lao PDR to actively conserve and sustainably use their wetlands and resources. It recognizes the fundamental value of wetlands for the people of Lao and for global biodiversity,” says Anada Tiéga, Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. “I would like to underline the key role played by IUCN in the accession of Lao PDR, a valued partner of the Convention in the work for sustainable wetlands and water resources management” Tiéga adds.

“The Government of Lao PDR decided to join the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands to ensure the effective and efficient use of our natural resources, helping to achieve sustainable socio-economic development, poverty reduction and improved livelihoods in parallel with environmental protection,” comments Khampheng Pholsena, Lao Minister for Water Resources and the Environment.

“Both the Xe Champhone and Beung Kiat Ngong Wetlands are ecologically significant areas and make vastly important contributions to sustaining the livelihoods of people who live in and around them. This is why they have been selected as Lao PDR’s first two Ramsar sites”, says Latsamay Sylavong, Country Representative of IUCN in Lao PDR.

The Xe Champhone Wetlands in Savannakhet Province provide important food and livelihood resources for approximatively 20,000 people, including a vital source of sustenance for food and livestock in the dry seasons. The wetlands are also home to the critically endangered Siamese crocodile as well as a number of turtle species.

The Beung Kiat Ngong Wetlands in Champassak Province support around 11,500 villagers who live around the site and depend on its fisheries, subsistence agriculture and non-timber forest products.

As part of its accession to the Ramsar Convention, the Government of Lao PDR will commit to supporting the “three pillars” of the Convention: ensuring the conservation and wise use of wetlands that it has designated as Wetlands of International Importance; including the wise use of all wetlands in national environmental planning; and consulting with other Parties about the implementation of the Convention, especially in regard to transboundary wetlands, shared water systems and shared species.

For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:

Fongsamuth Phengphaengsy, Water and Wetlands Coordinator IUCN Lao PDR
Tel: +856 21 216401 ext. 107, Mob: +856 20 223723, Email fongsamuth.phengphaengsy@iucn.org
www.iucn.org/lao. Photos (audio/video material) are available from Fongsamuth.

Claire Warmenbol, IUCN Water Programme Communications
Tel: +41 22 999 0188, Mob: +41 79 404 1973, Email Claire.Warmenbol@iucn.org
www.iucn.org/water

About the Ramsar Convention
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem, and the Convention’s member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet. www.ramsar.org

About the Mekong Water Dialogues
The Mekong Water Dialogue Programme (MWD), convened by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature and supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, was initiated to work with countries of the Mekong Region – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam – to improve water governance by facilitating transparent and inclusive decision-making to improve livelihood security, human and ecosystem health. www.iucn.org/asia/mekong_dialogues

Lao PDR’s Wetlands
Lao PDR has a diverse topography, ranging from floodplains to highland areas. Wetlands extend across all these environments, including the Mekong River, its 14 main tributaries, and more than 100 streams. Most of the water flowing into the Mekong Basin originates in Lao PDR: 35% of total flow in the dry season and up to 80% in the wet season. In addition to the Mekong floodplain, other important wetland areas in Lao PDR can be found in the seasonally flooded areas along rivers such as the Xe Bang Fai and Xe Bang Hieng. Lao PDR’s wetlands provide vital environmental, economic and cultural services to the country’s people, particularly in rural areas. As well as ecosystem services such as providing habitat for a wide variety of species, flood protection and groundwater renewal, wetlands supply natural resources that are central to livelihoods in Lao PDR, from fish to fodder to tourism opportunities.

The sites
The Xe Champhone Wetlands comprise a large floodplain nourishing perennial rivers and a wide variety of scattered lakes and ponds. The wetlands provide important food, resources and livelihoods for the approximately 20,000 people who live in and around the site. Thousands of cattle are also raised in the area and the wetlands have become increasingly critical to both people and livestock during the dry season. Of the many lakes and ponds, some form habitat for critically endangered Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis), and are home to several species of turtles.

The Beung Kiat Ngong Wetlands are located in a large floodplain and are made up of a large freshwater marsh and a seasonal wetland with a number of scattered ponds and paddy fields. The site is especially important for fish, which rely on the permanent wetlands for survival during the dry season. It is also important for fish spawning, which takes place both inside the wetlands, and during the wet season when some of the fish migrate to upstream tributaries to spawn. Fish species identified from the site include walking catfish (Clarias spp.), snakeheads (Channa striata) and swamp eels (Monopterus albus). The wetlands support some 11,500 villagers who live in the site and who are primarily reliant for their income on wild-capture fisheries, subsistence agriculture and non-timber forest products.

On July 22, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met in Hanoi, Vietnam within the framework of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), to highlight the growing cooperation between the United States and the Lower Mekong countries in key areas of common concern.

Environment: The United States will spend more than $22 million in 2010 on environmental programs in the Mekong Region. Programs supported through the Lower Mekong Initiative include the following:

The United States will launch a three-year program to assist the four Lower Mekong countries in developing cooperative strategies to address the impact of climate change on water resources, food security and livelihood. The United States has identified $3 million for the first year and intends to continue similar levels of funding in the second and third year of the program.

The establishment of a “sister-river” partnership agreement between the Mekong River Commission and the Mississippi River Commission signed on May 12, 2010, which aims to improve the management of trans-boundary water resources.

The continued development of “Forecast Mekong,” a predictive modeling tool to illustrate the impact of climate change and other challenges to the sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin.

Funding a two-year research program among universities in the lower Mekong countries to study persistent organic pollutants in the Mekong River Basin.

Health: U.S. assistance to the Mekong countries in the health field will total over $147 million in 2010, and focus on the following areas:

The United States looks forward to working with the four Lower Mekong countries to initiate a program targeting Emerging Pandemic Threats in the region with a U.S. contribution for 2010 of $14 million. The program will improve the identification of and response to new public health threats that originate in animals and strengthen animal and human health systems to combat outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Cross-border partnerships to respond to infectious diseases by training health professionals and veterinarians to detect, track and contain outbreaks, and to establish a regional network to detect drug resistant malaria. These funds will build on the work of the first LMI Conference on Transnational Infectious Disease Cooperation, hosted by U.S. Embassy Hanoi and the Government of Vietnam on June 17-18, 2010;

Ongoing U.S. assistance has provided HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services to over 2 million people across the Mekong region, contributing to a 50% reduction in the HIV/AIDS infection rate in Cambodia; providing life-saving antiretroviral treatments worth $90 million in Vietnam; and in Thailand, supporting the largest clinical trial to date, which demonstrated that a vaccine regimen could be both safe and effective in preventing HIV infection.

Education and Training: U.S. assistance in the area of education for 2010 totals over $18 million. Education projects supported through the Lower Mekong Initiative include:

The upcoming Mekong-focused U.S.-ASEAN Forum on “Rural Internet Connectivity, Education and Development,” which will bring together development experts, government officials, the private sector, civil society, and donors to share best practices on expanding internet availability into poor, rural areas;

The International Visitors Leadership Program, offering regional professionals in the fields of education, environment, and health the opportunity to visit the United States to consult with colleagues on best practices and to build both regional and international working connections; and

Support for English-language training through in-country scholarships that assist professionals working in the Lower Mekong Initiative focus areas to improve their ability to communicate regionally and internationally.

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NEW government figures indicate up to 150,000 people living along the Mekong and Bassac rivers are consuming water from wells laced with arsenic, a poison that can cause skin and other cancers after prolonged exposure.

The figures, prepared by the Department of Water Supply at the Ministry of Rural Development, indicate that the problem is less widespread than officials believed after the April 2009 publication of a study estimating that up to 2 million people were at risk.

Mao Saray, the department’s director, said the figures were finalised at a workshop late last month attended by government officials and representatives of UNICEF, the World Health Organisation and other groups.

“It is estimated that approximately 100,000 to 150,000 people are consuming arsenic-contaminated drinking water for at least part of the year,” he said. Residents of Kandal, Prey Veng and Kampong Cham provinces were at the highest risk of exposure, whereas residents of Kampong Chhnang, Kratie and Kampong Thom provinces were at moderate risk, he said.

He said that in many areas contaminated water was only being used for cleaning and bathing.

The April 2009 figures, prepared by Resource Development International Cambodia and Dartmouth College in the United States, indicated that as many as 100,000 residents of Kandal province alone were being exposed to arsenic. Andrew Shantz, laboratory and research director for RDIC, said data from the 2008 census as well as the establishment of a national database listing arsenic concentrations in 40,000 wells had led to new figures.

A report released in May by three US scientists said more than 100 million people were exposed to arsenic-contaminated drinking water daily in Cambodia, Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam, resulting in thousands of deaths from cancer each year.

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Shrimp and tra fish made up nearly 70% of Vietnamese seafood exports last year. Exports have been growing this year but processors now face a shortage of shrimp from farmers. In the first half of this year, exported shrimp prices increased by 84% in France, 20% in Japan and 7% in the U.S.

Truong Dinh Hoe, secretary general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said many factories in the Mekong Delta and the central region are processing at 30-50% capacity because of the shrimp shortage. The shortage is due to bad weather, seasonality and increasing demand.

Only a small number of shrimp processors and exporters in the country own their own shrimp farms, preferring to buy from private shrimp farmers.

“Shrimp prices are unstable compared to other export products like tra fish. Shrimps are very sensitive to weather change, environment and diseases, which is why processors like to pass the buck to farmers,” Hoe said.

Since February many shrimp factories have stopped working, as El Nino weather conditions have affected the shrimp season. While they wait for the next shrimp harvest, some factories have switched to processing imported shrimps and changed business strategies.

Tran Van Linh, director of Thuan Phuoc Seafoods and Trading Corporation in Danang City said the severe shortage in the Central region forced him to sign bigger contracts.

“Big contracts mean we can pay farmers more and boost our competitiveness,” he said. The shift in focus has helped him maintain 60-70% of capacity at the factory.

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Vientiane, Laos – The Lao government earned 600,000 dollars off the Nam Theun II hydropower plant last month, its first revenue from the ecologically controversial project, project sources said Tuesday.

According to a joint report issued by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, two of the main sponsors of the 2-billion-dollar project, the Lao government received the money from the plant owners in June.

The payment came two months after Nam Theun II (NT2) commenced commercial operations.

The plant, located in Hinboun district, Khammouane province, was opposed by environmentalists and human rights groups concerned about the dam’s impact on downstream fisheries, watersheds and the relocation of 6,000 villagers.Laos, one of the world’s poorest countries, has few other sources of revenue other than hydro-electricity, which is exported to neighbouring Thailand.

Government revenues from the plant are expected to reach 6.5 million dollars by late September, the banks’ report said.
The money is earmarked to finance poverty reduction and development programmes in Laos, one of the World Bank’s conditions which has acted as a guarantor for loans to the project.

“With close to three quarters of the population of Laos still living on less than 2 dollars a day, the money generated by the NT2 is providing a significant boost to the country’s economy and helping improve people’s lives,” said John Roome, Word Bank Director for Sustainable Development in the East Asia & Pacific Region.

Over the 25-year concession period, the country will receive nearly 2 billion dollars in revenues from the project, which is jointly owned by consortium comprising Electricite de France SA (35 per cent), the Goverment of Laos and two Thai companies, the Electricty Generating Public Co (EGO) and the Italian-Thai Development PCL (ITD), each holding a 25-per-cent share.

[Ed-Apols for full quote]

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The Mekong Delta region exported more than 300,000 tonnes of tra fish in the first half of this year, earning over US$640 million.

With these figures, the region has attained over 50% of this year’s target, obtaining a 19.4% rise in quantity and 11.6% increase in value despite a slump in world prices.

Statistics presented at a meeting held in Can Tho city on July 14 to review tra fish exports showed that the region is very likely to ship 600,000 tonnes of tra fish and fetch US$1.2 billion by the end of this year.

The main markets for Vietnamese tra fish include 13 countries in the European Union, northern and central America, Asia and Oceania continent. Thanks to accelerated promotions, exports to Saudi Arabi and Australia so far this year expanded 47.5% and 35.3% respectively.

Prices of tra fish on the world market fell from US$2.28 last year to US$2.13 per kilo. However, the steering board for production and consumption of tra fish in the Mekong Delta region has worked with relevant agencies to address drawbacks concerning tariff and non-tariff barriers.

It has also provided exporters with updated market information as well as advice on quality and hygiene requirements, and responded strongly to articles in foreign newspapers that aimed to tarnish the reputation of Vietnamese tra fish.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has assisted export companies in promoting their products in Saudi Arabia, the US, Belgium and Mexico, and other world markets. It has also created favourable conditions for farmers to increase domestic sales by finding domestic outlets for their products, such as wholesale markets, restaurants and hotels.

More than 3,700 hectares of water across the country is being used to farm tra fish, hitting 62.5% of the year’s target. Dong Thap and An Giang are the two largest tra fish breeding provinces with a combined area of 2,340 hectares. (VNA)

[Ed-Apols for full quote]

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QUE DIEN, Vietnam (AFP) – The rivers that should nourish his thirsty rice paddies are too salty, and the rains are late this year. Dang Roi does not know if he will be able to salvage anything from this spring’s crop.

Vietnam is the world’s second-biggest rice exporter and the Mekong Delta, where Roi farms, accounts for more than half of its production.
But Roi’s paddy fields in Ben Tre province are burning up during a drought which meteorologists say is the worst in decades.

The dry season should have ended already, but in the yard of Roi’s house in Que Dien commune, barrels that collect rainwater for his family’s cooking and washing show the desperate situation. They are half-full, or empty.

Experts say Vietnam is one of the countries most threatened by climate change, whose effects are seen in worsening drought, floods, typhoons, exaggerated tides, and rising sea levels.

The country is planning for a one-metre (three feet) rise in sea levels by 2100, which would flood about 31,000 square kilometres (12,400 square miles) of land — an area about the size of Belgium — unless systems such as dykes are strengthened, said a UN discussion paper released last year.

It said the threat of floods is greatest in the Mekong Delta, where 17 million people live.

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A recent report from the Mekong River Commission revealed that 12 dams in Lower Mekong River would cause serious problems for the two million people living downstream in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

The report entitled “MRC SEA for Hydropower on Mekong Mainstream, Impact Assessment and Discussion Draft” was presented at a regional meeting held to assess the impact of the Mekong River dam projects.

The report showed that if the 12 dam projects went ahead, it would adversely affect poor people living downstream in the three countries. These people live along the river in rural areas and depend heavily on agriculture and other natural resources for income.

According to the report, Laos will have a dam each in Pak Beng, Luang Prabang, Saiyaburi, Pak Lay, Latsua, Don Sahong and Thakho; the Thai/Lao border will have three dams, namely Sanakham, Pak Chom and Ban Koum; while Cambodia will have two dams, namely Stung Treng and Sambor.

The report showed that the Pak Chom and Ban Koum dams on the Thai/Lao border would affect 588,189 people living in Loei province, and 413,140 people in Ubon Ratchathani. It added that these dams would also change the boundary lines between the two countries.

Dam construction projects in Lower Mekong River would also have an adverse effect on the wetlands, ecological system and the economy. Damages to the wetlands would be to the tune of Bt224 million per year, the report said.

The report also showed that the 12 dams would stop 55 per cent of the river from flowing freely. The Mekong would become a huge reservoir and the dams will destroy natural islets, sandbanks and hamper the incubation of freshwater tropical fish and other aquatic animals. Plus the dams will affect Mekong’s more than 40 tributaries.

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HCM CITY — International experts and multi-stakeholders met in HCM City yesterday for the final workshop on the environmental and social impacts of 12 proposed hydropower dams on the mainstream lower Mekong.

About 100 participants from six Mekong countries attended the “Avoidance, mitigation and enhancement” workshop that is part of the “Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) of Proposed Mainstream Hydropower Dams in the Lower Mekong” study. It is the fourth and final workshop of the series.

“Mekong River is famous for its huge potential of hydropower development, 59,900MW basin-wide and 30,900MW in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB),” Dr Le Duc Trung director general of the Viet Nam National Mekong Committee told workshop in his opening speech.

“However, negative impacts from hydropower construction on the river-dependent ecosystem and livelihoods of millions of people should be estimated,” Trung said.

Private sector developers will build the 12 mainstream Mekong hydropower dams that are planned for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao under respective government MOUs.

The 1995 Mekong Agreement, signed by Cambodia, Lao, Thailand and Viet Nam, requires that such projects are discussed extensively among all four countries prior to any decision being taken.

The year-long study has researched impacts on regional energy planning; people; fisheries and barrier effects of dams on fish migration; maintenance of ecological integrity and biodiversity; river morphology and sediment balance; and water quality and salinity intrusion.

The two-day workshop aims to avoid or mitigate risks and enhance the benefits of the dams.

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