Beauty and the Beast

Balancing environmental protection and economic development

Update: The environmental beauty of the Mekong is under threat from pollution and uneven economic development. In today’s Long Mekong Daily images of Mekong beauty are juxtaposed with stories on pollution, external economic threats, wildlife crime, wetlands protection, historic artefacts, a dam development breakthrough, the new Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville Expressway and a Korean Hallyu star leading Korea’s fast expanding Mekong Public diplomacy campaign.

Mekong Beauty

Every autumn, Vietnam's Mekong River Delta fills with water lilies (Photo-Trung Huy Pham)

An Ocean Of Plastic

As the private transportation sector shifts focus to batteries, biofuels and green hydrogen, fossil fuel stakeholders have been seeking new avenues of revenue in the petrochemical industry in general, and in plastics in particular. That’s bad news for a world already swimming — literally — in plastic pollution. Product manufacturers and other upstream forces could reverse the petrochemical trend, but only if they — along with policymakers, voters and consumers — continue to push for real change beyond the business-as-usual strategy of only advocating for post-consumer recycling. Truthout

US Fed Hikes Global Recession

The United Nations has added its voice to the growing list of international organisations, including the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation, warning that interest rate hikes imposed by the US Federal Reserve are creating the conditions for a financial crisis and global recession.

In its annual report issued earlier this week, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that after a “recovery” in 2021 “the world economy is in the midst of cascading and multiplying crises.”

It said that with incomes still below 2019 levels in many major economies “growth is slowing everywhere.”

The rise in interest rates and highly volatile bond markets meant that “debt-distressed countries, including over half of low-income countries and about a third of middle-income countries, are edging ever closer to default.” Counter Currents

Ancient Mekong Scenes

It’s an ancient scene. Elephants march across a tributary of the Mekong River in Laos. Much of Laos remains covered in jungle, and elephants are commonly used to haul lumber out of the forests (Photo Kevin Kelly)

Mekong History

In the past, the Thu Bon River in Vietnam & the Mekong River in Cambodia were also known as Mahanadi. It shows the deep connection between Funan(Cambodia) & Champa(Vietnam) empires with Kalinga.

Mekong Wildlife

Recently, EU Partners Against Wildlife Crime Turtle Conservation Team in Cambodia held outreach campaigns in villages along the Mekong River. These aim to raise awareness of local communities and to engage them in the conservation of fisheries resources, and of turtles. A short video on turtle conservation is played, along with singing songs and a role play performed by the local youth. The event feat. Q&A focusing on the Cantor’s Giant Softshell Turtle’s biology, habitat, threats, and advantages of conserving the species. Key messages are communicated to the audience, incl. “Please join us to protect and conserve the Cantor’s” and “Please, help us report illegal fishing and trafficking of turtles”. These campaigns are conducted with co-funding from EU Partners Against Wildlife Crime.

Historic Breakthrough

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has announced the approval of a “milestone” document revising preliminary design guidance for hydropower projects and separate new guidelines on cross-border environmental impact assessments. “This is a historic breakthrough for MRC cooperation after years of discussion,” said Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun, Chief Executive at the MRC Secretariat in Vientiane.

“The two guidelines point out exactly what to do in minimising cross-border environmental impacts,” Dr Anoulak said.

“Members will see how beneficial the guidance is, not just to their own country and local communities, but in working together with their neighbors.”

The revised design guidance seeks to minimize impacts on ecosystems and communities while the environmental guidelines aim to measure how a project in one country affects a neighboring country. Khmer Times

Mekong Wetlands

The Songkhram River in northeast Thailand is a tributary of the Mekong River. The Lower Songkhram Basin comprises the largest area of flooded forest in the northeast region of Thailand providing a key habitat for more than 180 species of fish with at least 58 species migrate between the basin and the Mekong River. Of these, seven fish species are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species.

Every rainy season from July to August, the Mekong River floods into the Songkhram River, inundating the Songkhram Basin’s streams, lakes and creeks with sediment and fish. After the rains, the Songkhram River drains back into the Mekong River in September and October. This unique ebb and flow of flood waters between the two rivers has resulted in creating the Songkhram wetlands and seasonally flooded forests ecosystems rich in fish, animal and plant biodiversity.  The Lower Songkhram Basin is called the “womb” of the Mekong Basin, similar to Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, and is now recognized under the Ramsar Convention as a wetlands of international importance. SEI.ORG

Sihanoukville Expressway Opens

The Chinese-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Cambodia was opened to the public on Saturday for a month's trial use for free to attract motorists driving on the first-ever expressway in the Southeast Asian nation.

Invested by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, the 2-billion-U.S. dollar expressway with a total length of 187 km connects the capital Phnom Penh and the deep sea port province of Preah Sihanouk.

Cambodia's Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) Secretary of State Yit Bunna said the expressway project had been fully completed recently after more than three years of construction and put on a trial operation for free-of-charge on Oct. 1-31. Global Times

Korean Mekong Public Diplomacy

Hallyu star Lee Kwangsoo was appointed as an ambassador for the "Year of Exchange between Korea and Mekong" The five countries in the Mekong region refer to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam located in the Mekong River basin. "I personally have a lot of friendly, grateful and pleasant memories when I think of Southeast Asia, but it's very meaningful to be a goodwill ambassador. I'll do my best to show you a lot of good performance as a goodwill ambassador for more exchanges and cooperation." Navar