he 7th Annual Meeting of the CSO Forum on Social Forestry in ASEAN is being held in Da Nang, Vietnam on 24-25 June 2018 with the theme “Sustaining Collaborative and Innovative People-centered Actions and Contributions in NDCs and the Sustainable Development Goals”
On 13 June, the Government of Laos formally notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its intention to construct the Pak Lay dam on the mainstream of the Mekong River. The notification triggers the Prior Consultation procedure under the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA) of the 1995 Mekong Agreement. Pak Lay is the fourth Mekong mainstream dam to be submitted for the procedure.
This report has been consolidated based on the studies conducted in 2 years, 2012 and 2016, with the purpose to review and analyze the constraints that hinder the ability of credit organizations in Viet Nam to develop green credit and encourage adoption of social and environmental risk management practices. Based on the assessments, the report also recommends policy measures to support credit institutions in growing green credit and managing environmental and social risks for the loans granted to development projects.
Realizing that ethnic women in Xuan Nha NR can play a key role in addressing this issue, an NGO, PanNature, developed a project to improve the role of ethnic women in forest management and promote fair access to forest resources in Xuan Nha Nature Reserve. The project worked with two women’s unions (WU) in Xuan Nha and Chieng Xuan communities that placed the women as key drivers to advocate for sustainable management of their community’s forest resources. The project, using participatory approaches, aimed to enhance knowledge and capacities of the women to enable them to influence and take a lead in exploring alternative livelihood opportunities for their families and communities.
The Guidelines on Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the Mekong Region have been developed to address the shared concern for increasing meaningful public participation in development planning, in the context of increasing investment projects across the Mekong region. The Guidelines are intended to help stimulate more effective practices in public participation. These Guidelines are also playing an important role in informing the development of national level guidelines on public participation in EIA. This document is intended as a living resource and it is hoped that it will inspire the continued strengthening of EIA policies and practices in each country and across the region, as well as to advance greater regional collaboration and harmonization among Mekong and ASEAN nations.
The Save the Mekong Coalition has issued an Open Letter to the developers of the Don Sahong Dam to express our serious and ongoing concerns over the development of the project.
This issue brief—the third in Stimson’s “Letters from the Mekong” series—continues to challenge the prevailing narrative that the current rapid pace of dam construction on the Mekong River in mainland Southeast Asia will continue until the entire river is turned into a series of reservoirs.
Interviewed Mrs Premrudee Daorung (Toward Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance - TERRA, Thailand) on Mekong Hydropower Development.
Interviewed Mrs Ame Trandem (International Rivers) on Mekong Hydropower Development.
Interviewed Mr Senglong Youk (Fisheries Action Coalition Team - FACT, Campuchia) on Mekong Hydropower Development.