Greater Mekong Subregion

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Economic corridors of the Greater Mekong Subregion Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Corridors.jpg
Economic corridors of the Greater Mekong Subregion
Mekong River sunrise, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Sunrise in Phnom Penh.jpg
Mekong River sunrise, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The Greater Mekong Subregion, (GMS) or just Greater Mekong, is a trans-national region of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia. The region is home to more than 300 million people. It came into being with the launch of a development program in 1992 by the Asian Development Bank that brought together the six Asian countries of Cambodia, China (specifically Yunnan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam. [1]

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The Greater Mekong holds irreplaceable natural and cultural riches and is considered one of the world's most significant biodiversity hotspots. The region is an important food provider and the site of many large-scale construction projects with social and economic implications. [2]

Regional cooperation

For more than two decades, the six countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion have been working together under an economic cooperation program [3] to realize their vision of a prosperous, integrated, and harmonious subregion.

The GMS Program has adopted a three-pronged strategy (the three Cs):

  1. Strengthening connectivity through physical infrastructure and the development of economic corridors.
  2. Improving competitiveness through market integration and the facilitation of cross-border trade and travel.
  3. Building a sense of community by addressing shared social and environmental concerns.

The GMS Program, with the support of development partners, helps identify and implement high-priority subregional projects in a wide range of sectors: agriculture, energy, environment, health and human resource development, information and communication technology, tourism, transport, transport and trade facilitation, and urban development. More than US$20 billion in investments have been directly channeled through the program. [4]

Since 1998, the GMS program has been using economic corridors to promote economic growth and development. Economic corridors are investment areas, usually running along major highways, which connect centers of economic activity. Three main economic corridors are being developed in the Greater Mekong Subregion: the North-South Economic Corridor, the Southern Economic Corridor, and the East-West Economic Corridor. [5]

In September 2017, the 22nd Ministerial Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam endorsed the medium-term pipeline of priority projects from 2018 to 2022. The rolling pipeline includes more than 200 investment and technical assistance projects, which will require more than US$80 billion in financing. [6]

On 31 March 2018, the Sixth GMS Summit of Leaders in Hanoi adopted the Hanoi Action Plan and the Regional Investment Framework 2022. [7]

Landscape and biodiversity

The Mekong River, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand (more images) Mekong River in Khong Chiam.jpg
The Mekong River, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand (more images)

The region has a diverse landscape including massifs, plateaus, and limestone karsts, lowlands, floodplains and deltas, forests (evergreen and semi-evergreen, deciduous, dipterocarp, mangroves, and swamp), and grasslands. Water environments include fast-flowing mountain streams and wetlands such as Tonlé Sap in Cambodia. [8]

The region's geographic variety and consequent variety of climatic zones supports significant biodiversity, with more than a thousand new species discovered in the first decade of the 2000s. The geographic region encapsulates 16 of the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Global 200 ecoregions, and habitats for an estimated 20,000 plant species, 1,300 fish species, 1,200 bird species, 800 reptile and amphibian species, and 430 mammalian species (according to WWF, 44 of these are primates, 19 of which are endemic [9] ). Notable species include the Javan rhino, Irrawaddy dolphins, and Mekong giant catfish, one of the largest extant freshwater fish. [8] The WWF reported that in 2016, 115 new species were discovered in the region, including three mammals, two fish, 11 reptiles, 11 amphibians, and 88 plants. This brings the total number of newly discovered species in the Greater Mekong Subregion from 1997 to 2016 to 2,524. [10]

The region's biodiversity is ranked as a top-five most threatened hotspot by Conservation International. The WWF cites accelerating economic development, population growth, and increased consumption patterns as primary causes, including agricultural deforestation, logging and illegal timber trade, wildlife trade, overfishing, dam and road construction, and mining. The WWF also states that the region is particularly vulnerable to global climate change. [8]

Conservation

With the rapid development in the region, conservation efforts to protect natural resources, habitats, biodiversity and local cultures in the Greater Mekong have become urgent. The most pressing current threats are hydropower development, climate change, illegal wildlife trade, and habitat loss. [2]

Environmental threats

The harvesting and production of natural resources in the Greater Mekong Subregion is of significant economic importance, with the retail value of Mekong river fisheries alone estimated at more than US$4 billion annually. [11]

The Greater Mekong Subregion has become the site of large-scale construction projects and rapid economic development, including hydropower dams, mining, forestry, and industrial production. [2] These factors have raised environmental concerns internationally since the mid-2000s. For now, it has resulted in formulation of environmental programs and strategy proposals and strategy developments of a sustainable green growth economy for this region. It has been attained by influential organizations like the United Nations (UNEP and FAO), WWF, PROFOR and others, in high-level collaboration with the governmental ministries of the countries comprising the Greater Mekong Subregion. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Solar and wind energy offer solutions to the environmental and social challenges posed by coal power and hydropower projects [15] . The Mekong countries have substantial potential for solar and wind power. With the support of off-river pumped hydro energy storage, solar and wind power emerge as promising and sustainable alternatives for meeting the energy needs of the Mekong region.

Deforestation

In the 1970s, the Greater Mekong Subregion was one of the world's most densely forested areas. However, deforestation has reduced its forests by a third and is on a trajectory to lose another third by 2030. [16] The highest rates of deforestation in the GMS are found in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. [17]

Deforestation in the GMS has many causes, including the expansion of unsustainable rubber and palm oil plantations, dam development, infrastructure development, illegal and unsustainable logging, forest fires, and natural resource exploitation. [18] In effect, deforestation has impacted the environment, biodiversity, and inhabitants of the region. The increased pollution due to run-off has made the water of the Mekong unhealthy for the fish and for human consumption, while riverbanks have become more susceptible to the pressures of climate change and flash flooding because of missing protection tree roots provide. [16] The loss of flooded forests [17] has also impacted the aquatic food chain, putting further pressures on the fishing industry and the 40 million people who take part in fishing-related activities in the GMS. [19]

The GMS is a hotspot for vector-borne diseases along its watershed, including malaria, but environmental changes such as deforestation have begun to change this reality. [20] A study that compared malaria rates in the northern and southern regions of Laos found that deforestation increases malaria rates in the short term (1–3 years), but lessens them dramatically in the long term. [21]

Deforestation in the GMS has the potential to become irreversible unless actions are taken and policy is implemented. Local community-supported initiatives, such as the many Community Protected Areas (CPAs) in Cambodia's Phnom Kulen National Park, have been established to stop illegal logging and poaching. [22]

Organizations

Organizations involved in the Greater Mekong Subregion include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Cambodia</span> Geography of the country of Cambodia

Cambodia is a country in mainland Southeast Asia. It borders Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand and covers a total area of approximately 181,035 km2 (69,898 sq mi). The country is situated in its entirety inside the tropical Indomalayan realm and the Indochina Time zone (ICT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Environment Programme</span> Agency of the United Nations focused on solving environmental issues

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and green economic development. The organization also develops international environmental agreements; publishes and promotes environmental science and helps national governments achieve environmental targets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mekong</span> Major river in Southeast Asia

The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of 4,909 km (3,050 mi) and a drainage area of 795,000 km2 (307,000 sq mi), discharging 475 km3 (114 cu mi) of water annually. From its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau, the river runs through Southwest China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between Tibet and Southeast Asia. The construction of hydroelectric dams along the Mekong in the 2000s through the 2020s causes serious problems for the river's ecosystem, including the exacerbation of drought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal logging</span> Harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws

Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a protected area; the cutting down of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits. Illegal logging is a driving force for a number of environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion and biodiversity loss which can drive larger-scale environmental crises such as climate change and other forms of environmental degradation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mekong River Commission</span> Intergovernmental organization that manages the water resources of the Mekong River

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is an "...inter-governmental organisation that works directly with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to jointly manage the shared water resources and the sustainable development of the Mekong River". Its mission is "To promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries' mutual benefit and the people's well-being".

The East–West Economic corridor is an economic development program initiated in order to promote development and integration of 5 Southeast Asian countries, namely: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The concept was agreed upon in 1998 at the Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion, organized in Manila, the Philippines. This corridor became operational on December 12, 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mekong–Ganga Cooperation</span> Intergovernmental organization of Southeast Asian countries

The Mekong–Ganga Cooperation (MGC) was established on November 10, 2000, at Vientiane, Laos at the First MGC Ministerial Meeting. It comprises six member countries, namely India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The four areas of cooperation are tourism, culture, education, and transportation. The organization takes its name from the Ganga and the Mekong, two large rivers in the region. Used Logo for the Website

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Cambodia</span>

Deforestation in Cambodia has increased in recent years. Cambodia is one of the world's most forest endowed countries, that was not historically widely deforested. However, massive deforestation for economic development threatens its forests and ecosystems. As of 2015, the country has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.

Natural resources are materials that occur in a natural form within environments. These can be classified as either biotic or abiotic on the basis of their origin. The landmass and the territorial waters of Cambodia contain a rather moderate amount, array and variety of resources. Apart from water, abiotic resources, such as minerals are generally rare. Still, advanced geo-scientific technologies have produced remarkable results and re-assessments in recent years, such as the localization of offshore oil and gas depots in the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia, on the other hand possesses a relatively wide range of biotic resources, in particular timber, forest products, rare plants and a fauna of great diversity.

Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Environment Operations Center (EOC) was established in early 2006 to serve as the information and knowledge clearing house for environmental management in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and is responsible for facilitating the timely and effective implementation of the GMS Core Environment Program (CEP). EOC will also act as a secretariatto the Working Group on Environment (WGE), taking over the support functions, such as organizing and holding WGE meetings, coordinating WGE activities, reporting to the WGE, and other tasks which were previously carried out by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation by continent</span> Removal of forests worldwide

Rates and causes of deforestation vary from region to region around the world. In 2009, two-thirds of the world's forests were located in just 10 countries: Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, China, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, India, and Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydropower in the Mekong River Basin</span>

The estimated hydropower potential of the lower Mekong Basin is 30,000 MW, while that of the upper Mekong Basin is 28,930 MW. In the lower Mekong, more than 3,235 MW has been realized via facilities built largely over the past ten years, while projects under construction will represent an additional 3,209 MW. An additional 134 projects are planned for the lower Mekong, which will maximize the river's hydropower generating capacity. The single most significant impact—both now and in the future—on the use of water and its management in the Mekong Region is hydropower.

The Stung Treng Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Mekong River in Stung Treng Province, Cambodia. It would be located on the mainstream of the Lower Mekong River. The project is controversial for several reasons, including its possible impact on the fisheries, as well as other ecological and environmental factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xayaburi Dam</span> Dam in Xayaburi

The Xayaburi Dam is a run-of-river hydroelectric dam on the Lower Mekong River, approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Sainyabuli (Xayaburi) town in northern Laos. Commercial operation of the dam started in October 2019. The main purpose of the dam is to produce hydroelectric power, 95% of which is to be purchased by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). The project is surrounded in controversy due to complaints from downstream riparians and environmentalists. Preliminary construction began in early-2012, but work on the dam itself was suspended shortly thereafter due to complaints from Cambodia and Vietnam downstream. After making modifications to the dam's design, Laos started construction with a ceremony on 7 November 2012. The Xayaburi Dam is the first of the 11 dams planned on the lower Mekong.

The Don Sahong is a hydroelectric dam commissioned in 2020 on the Mekong River in Siphandone area of Champasak Province, Laos, less than two kilometers upstream of the Laos–Cambodia border.

This page describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Laos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Mekong Research Network</span> Environmental group

The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) is a network of organizations committed to the sustainable development of the Greater Mekong Region. Launched in 2005, SUMERNET supports policy-relevant research and outreach activities to inform and engage policy-makers, planners and stakeholders. Within this context, it pursues an evolving agenda in response to questions and policy issues that arise in the region. Current research themes are climate-compatible development, regional economic integration, and ecosystem services and local development. The network works on a range of issues including natural ecosystems governance, floods and natural disasters, climate change and adaptation, and transboundary resource flows.

Economic corridors are integrated networks of infrastructure within a geographical area designed to stimulate economic development. They connect different economic agents in a particular geographic area. Corridors may be developed within a country or between countries. Corridors exist in Asia, Africa, and other areas.

Mekong Institute (MI) is an intergovernmental organization (IGO) run by six governments in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS): Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. MI delivers various programs and activities focusing on human resource development and capacity building for regional cooperation and integration.

Laos is increasingly suffering from environmental problems, with deforestation a particularly significant issue, as expanding commercial exploitation of the forests, plans for additional hydroelectric facilities, foreign demand for wild animals and nonwood forest products for food and traditional medicines, and a growing population all create increasing pressure.

References

  1. ↑ "About the Greater Mekong Subregion". Greater Mekong Subregion. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  2. 1 2 3 "Greater Mekong". World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  3. ↑ Bank, Asian Development (2015-05-18). Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program: Overview. Asian Development Bank.
  4. ↑ "Overview of the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program". Greater Mekong Subregion. GMS Secretariat. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "Economic Corridors in the Greater Mekong Subregion". Greater Mekong Subregion. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  6. ↑ "Greater Mekong Subregion Regional Investment Framework 2022: First Progress Report and Update". Greater Mekong Subregion. 2019-04-22. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
  7. ↑ "Joint Summit Declaration: 6th GMS Summit of Leaders". Greater Mekong Subregion. 2018-03-31. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  8. 1 2 3 "First Contact in the Greater Mekong: new species discoveries". WWF. 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  9. ↑ "WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE PRIMATES OF THE GREATER MEKONG". WWF. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "Stranger Species". WWF. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  11. 1 2 "Green Economy in the Greater Mekong". WWF. Archived from the original on 2015-11-19. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "UNEP - Regional Office for Asia Pacific - Mainstreaming Environment through Regional Forums". UNEP. Archived from the original on 2015-09-20. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Mekong River Commission (MRC)". FAO. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in the Mekong Region". Program on Forests (PROFOR). 12 April 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Do, Thang Nam; Burke, Paul J.; Lu, Bin (2023). "Harnessing solar and wind for sustainable cross-border electricity trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion". Frontiers in Environmental Science. 11. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1188335 . ISSN   2296-665X.
  16. 1 2 Caroll, J. (2018). Pulse of the Forest: The State of The Greater Mekong’s Forests and the Everyday People Working to Protect Them. WWF.
  17. 1 2 Lohani, Sapana; Dilts, Thomas E.; Weisberg, Peter J.; Null, Sarah E.; Hogan, Zeb S. (2020). "Rapidly Accelerating Deforestation in Cambodia's Mekong River Basin: A Comparative Analysis of Spatial Patterns and Drivers". Water. 12 (8): 2191. doi: 10.3390/w12082191 . ISSN   2073-4441.
  18. ↑ Gritten, David; Lewis, Sophie Rose; Breukink, Gijs; Mo, Karen; Thuy, Dang Thi Thu; Delattre, Etienne (2019). "Assessing Forest Governance in the Countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion". Forests. 10 (1): 47. doi: 10.3390/f10010047 . ISSN   1999-4907.
  19. ↑ Fitrian Ardiansyah and Desak Putu Adhityani Putri, “Risk, Resilience and Human Security in Cross-Border Areas: The Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle,” Human Security and Climate Change in Southeast Asia: Managing Risk and Resilience: Managing Risk and Resilience, eds. Lorraine Elliott and Mely Caballero-Anthony (Routledge, 2012): 131–50.
  20. ↑ Cui, Liwang; Yan, Guiyun; Sattabongkot, Jetsumon; Cao, Yaming; Chen, Bin; Chen, Xiaoguang; Fan, Qi; Fang, Qiang; Jongwutiwes, Somchai; Parker, Daniel; Sirichaisinthop, Jeeraphat (2012). "Malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Heterogeneity and complexity". Acta Tropica. 121 (3): 227–239. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2011.02.016. PMC   3132579 . PMID   21382335.
  21. ↑ Rerolle, Francois; Dantzer, Emily; Lover, Andrew A; Marshall, John M; Hongvanthong, Bouasy; Sturrock, Hugh JW; Bennett, Adam (2021-03-09). "Spatio-temporal associations between deforestation and malaria incidence in Lao PDR". eLife. 10: e56974. doi: 10.7554/eLife.56974 . ISSN   2050-084X. PMC   8024023 . PMID   33686939.
  22. ↑ Singh, Minerva; Evans, Damian; Chevance, Jean-Baptiste; Tan, Boun Suy; Wiggins, Nicholas; Kong, Leaksmy; Sakhoeun, Sakada (2018). "Evaluating the ability of community-protected forests in Cambodia to prevent deforestation and degradation using temporal remote sensing data". Ecology and Evolution. 8 (20): 10175–10191. Bibcode:2018EcoEv...810175S. doi:10.1002/ece3.4492. PMC   6206189 . PMID   30397457.
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