On March 20th, 2018, International Rivers, PanNature, Mekong Environment Forum, and Save the Mekong Coalition co-organized the forum “The Mekong Under Threat: Protecting People and Ecosystems in a Fast-Changing Basin” in Can Tho, Vietnam. The forum is to facilitate a public platform for exchanging information and perspectives on existing challenges for the Mekong basin.
This event provided space for community representatives from Lower Mekong basin countries to share their views on changes to the river ecosystems, impacts on their livelihoods and everyday life, as well as express their concerns and recommendations to policy-makers in the region. On the other hand, relevant agencies and scientists joined the forum to respond to voices of local communities and share their perspectives on impacts of climate change and hydropower development on the Mekong basin. Forum discussions included alternatives for energy demand and proposals for ways toward sustainable and fair development at basin-scale for countries to realize UN SDGs.
More than 150 representatives from government agencies, civil society organizations and communities from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam participated in this forum.
Forum agenda and presentations of guest speakers in the Forum are as below:
Dr. Naruepon Sukumasavin, Mekong River Commission Secretariat
Hydropower Dams, Water Governance, and Impacts on The Lower Mekong Basin
Dr. Le Viet Phu, Lower Mekong Public Policy Initiative (LMPPI), Fulbright University Vietnam
The Challenges in Mekong Basin
Dr. Duong Van Ni, Can Tho University
Mr. Tran Dinh Sinh, Vice Director of GreenID
Vietnam River Network and its Achievement in Sustainable Development Goals
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van, Vietnam Rivers Network
Save the Mekong Coalition Statement on the Occasion of World Water Day