Posted on 24 September
2010
WWF is seriously concerned about the negative
impacts posed by the Sayabouly hydropower
dam proposed for the Mekong river in northern
Laos, following the Lao Government’s notification
of the dam to the
Mekong River Commission (MRC) on September
22.
The Lao Government’s
engagement with the MRC on the Sayabouly
dam is a positive first step in the three-stage
assessment process. The Sayabouly dam is
the first of the 11 proposed lower Mekong
river mainstream dams to be critically assessed
by member countries of the MRC.
“There must be a rigorous
and transparent assessment of the impacts
of this dam,” said Marc Goichot, Sustainable
Infrastructure Senior Advisor for WWF Greater
Mekong. “It is already very clear this dam
would amplify and accelerate the negative
impacts of Chinese dams to the Mekong delta,
what are the other impacts?” he said.
If built, the Sayabouly
dam will block the sediment and nutrients
that build the delta and feed its immense
productivity, which provides more than 50
percent of Vietnam’s staple food crops.
Moreover, the dam would alter habitats downstream
in Laos and Cambodia potentially having
devastating impacts on wild fisheries and
causing the likely extinction of critically
endangered Mekong giant catfish.
A workshop organized
by the MRC Secretariat concluded that with
current technologies it would be impossible
to build a dam that would allow for such
a large and diverse fish migration as takes
place in the Mekong river.
The third MRC Basin
Development plan grossly underestimated
the negative impacts on biodiversity and
sediment flows of lower Mekong river mainstream
dams proposed north of Vientiane, including
Sayabouly. The Basin Development plan will
guide the MRC assessment of all lower Mekong
river mainstream dams.
WWF supports a ten-year
delay in the approval of lower Mekong river
mainstream dams to ensure a comprehensive
understanding of all the impacts of their
construction and operation. Immediate electricity
demands can be met by fast tracking the
most sustainable hydropower sites on the
lower Mekong’s tributaries.
“This dam is the greatest
challenge the MRC has faced since it was
formed. It is the most serious test of its
usefulness and relevance,” said Mr Goichot.
The CH. Karnchang Public
Company Ltd. of Thailand has been contracted
by the Lao Government to construct the Sayabouly
dam if it is approved. Karnchang has hired
Swiss company Colenco to produce the design
of the Sayabouly dam. WWF has tried to engage
with both parties to highlight the risk
and promote sustainable alternatives. Neither
party has elected to engage with WWF on
the matter.
To promote sustainable
hydropower development, on September 24
in Bangkok, WWF and other development partners
convened a conference of leading Asian,
US and European financial institutions to
highlight the financial, social and environmental
risks and responsibilities of hydropower
development on the lower Mekong river.
The meeting also explored
ways to avoid, manage and mitigate these
risks supporting the conclusions of the
MRC Summit held in Hua Hin on April 5 that
was attended by all governments of the Mekong
and endorsed sustainable development of
the Mekong river basin.
+ More
Russia Far East hosts
major tiger party ahead of summit
Posted on 24 September
2010
Vladivostok, Russia: Every year on the last
Sunday in September, Vladivostok turns orange
with stripes.
This year, as it hosts
its annual Tiger Day on Sunday, Sept. 26th,
the largest city in the Russian Far East
will be buzzing with extra excitement as
festivities take place prior to the first
ever Global Tiger Summit to be held in Russia
in the city of St. Petersburg from Nov.
21-24.
At the Summit, Russia
will host ministers and heads of state from
the 13 countries that still have tiger populations
to sign a declaration on joint cooperation
for tiger conservation, and to initiate
a global tiger recovery program which seeks
double the iconic species’ numbers by the
year 2022. The wild tiger population currently
stands at a historic low of just 3,200.
Tiger Day is the biggest
eco-celebration in the Russian Far East.
Citizens of Vladivostok, students and representatives
of many organizations wear orange from head
to toe and join the tiger parade that moves
through the center of the city. Participants
show that they are proud to live in the
land of the tiger, and that they are concerned
about the tiger’s future.
The Amur tiger, the
largest of the six big cat sub-species that
still survive, numbers only about 500 and
lives in the forests of the Russian Far
East near Vladivostok and in Northeastern
China.
This year’s edition
of Tiger Day will also include special guests:
members of the youth German-Russian expedition
“On the Footpath of the Tiger”. The expedition
connects young tiger enthusiasts from 18
to 24 years old, and also includes journalists
and WWF staff members from both countries.
Every member of the expedition has gone
through tiger training in the field, including
learning how to set photo traps to take
a picture of their “own” tiger, equipping
a feeding complex for tiger prey, and learning
how to count that prey from a specially
built platform. Young German ecologists
also have the opportunity to fly in a helicopter
around the Shkotovsky plateau to detect
forest fires and illegal logging. Expedition
members will greet Tiger Day participants
in Vladivostok’s main square.
Prior to Tiger Day eminent
actors and film directors who participated
in the 8th international film festival of
countries in the Asia-Pacific region, “Meridians
of the Pacific”, signed a tiger conservation
petition aimed at the 13 heads of state
where tigers still live in the wild. The
petition was signed by Gerard Depardieu,
Vensan Peres, Valentina Talyzina, Svetlana
Toma, Artemij Troizky and 100 other film
festival attendees.
WWF will also hold an
eco-lottery during the day, with planting
stocks of Korean Pine amongst the prizes.
The tree has just received protected status
in Russia’s Far East cedar forests, and
is a vital species in key Amur tiger habitat.
“It is absolutely possible
to save and increase the population of our
tiger,” stated Igor Chestin, WWF Russia
CEO. “The question is only in the political
will. Russia has to accept a plan of action
for the conservation of the Amur tiger and
must provide adequate funding from its federal
budget.”
Tiger day was first
celebrated in Vladivostok in the year 2000.
The event grows every year in the Russian
Far East. Nature reserves in the Far East
also take an active part in the day, and
hold their own celebrations in smaller cities
and villages. In addition to Moscow Zoo,
nature parks and zoos throughout the USA
and Europe, as well concerned people from
countries all over the world, have joined
in and now organize their own celebrations
for the Tiger on the same day.
