Peter Bosshard
Policy Director, International Rivers
Posted on The Huffington Post
The mighty Mekong River is about to face its greatest test. This month, the governments of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam will decide whether to give approval to the first ever dam planned for the lower Mekong mainstream, the Xayaburi Dam.
Much is at stake in this decision. The Mekong River is the world’s largest freshwater fishery, providing the main source of protein for 60 million people in the lower Mekong basin. The amount of fish caught here is staggering — about 2% of the world’s fish catch is caught from this one river basin each year.
The Mekong’s strong currents and scenic rapids in the remote province of Xayaburi in Northern Laos are important spawning grounds of several important migratory fish species, including the critically endangered Mekong Giant Catfish. This riverine cornucopia is now at risk. Since 2007, Ch. Kamchang, a large Thai construction company, has been planning to build the massive Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong’s Kaeng Luang rapids.
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