WWF Agrees to Halt Dam Projects in Mekong River for 10 Years

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has announced that it agrees with the approval delay of all dams in the lower Mekong mainstream for ten years to ensure a comprehensive understanding of possible impacts of the construction. Environmental agencies in some countries along the river have also proposed such a deferral, the WWF in Vietnam said in a statement released yesterday [Mar 3], warning that investors in the proposed Xayabury dam in Laos and the 11 other relevant nations need to absorb the lessons of Thailand's Mun River dam. The Mun River dam, built in the early 1990s, was a notable economic failure and the cause of massive environmental and social disruption, the WWF emphasized. “The lessons of Thailand’s Mun River dam remains fresh: Hasty studies on environmental and social impact can affect not only fishermen but also dam owners,” National Policy Coordinator of the WWF in Thailand Dr Suphasuk Pradubsuk said. At a conference held by the Vietnam National River Committee last month, many experts and authorities also called on Laos to halt its plan on building the Xayabury dam as this could seriously harm aquaculture and ecosystem of Vietnam. Truong Hong Tien, an expert of the standing office of the committee, said that amount of Vietnam fisheries will fall by 200,000-400,000 tons yearly due to negative effects from the dam. The deadline for all involved countries to announce their respective official opinions regarding the dam project is April 22, 2011. If the project is approved to be built in April as planned, the dam will have 820-meter length and 32.6-meter high once operational in 2019. The submerged area is 49 square kilometers and the dam’s flood discharge capacity is 47,500 cubic meters per second. (Tuoitrenews.vn Mar 4, Tuoi Tre – Youth Mar 4 p5)