There is no doubt the Greater Mekong region must develop, the question is how?
A rapid current of change
Hidden Costs: The underside of economic transformation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Australia: Oxfam Australia, 2007.
What are the major challenges?
In the Greater Mekong region, once-remote areas are transforming fast. Populations are booming and the demand for natural resources and energy across the region is reaching new highs.
Nations of the Greater Mekong region are rolling out an economic plan of unprecedented scale that includes new hydropower dams, roads and free flows of goods and people across national borders. These developments are necessary to improve the lives of millions of people in the region, but if they are not planned sustainably it could also create serious and irreversible problems, particularly now in the face of climate change.
Hydropower production and infrastructure construction are drawing foreign investment to the region, and promising to lift its people from poverty. The realization of this promise, like all life in the Mekong River basin, is inextricably linked to the continued health of the Mekong River and its fisheries. Learn more
The Greater Mekong is destined for big changes due to climate change, making it one of the most vulnerable places on Earth. For the Greater Mekong, climate change compounds existing and projected threats affecting the region’s people, biodiversity and natural resources. This is likely to have cascading effects, for example, water scarcity leading to reduced agricultural productivity, leading to food scarcity, unemployment and poverty. Learn more
Population growth, poor land-use planning and economic policies that encourage the unsustainable use of natural resources are among the factors increasing deforestation and biodiversity loss across the Greater Mekong region. Loss of forest habitat and biodiversity weakens the region's ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This puts at risk communities and multi-million dollar investments, which become more vulnerable to extreme climate events. Learn more
This trade is further shrinking populations of the Greater Mekong’s most rare and endangered species, such as tiger and Sun bear. These illegal activities not only cause the loss of some of the world’s most precious species, but also severely alter the ecosystems in which the species and people live. Learn more
Hydropower and infrastructure development
Hydropower production and infrastructure construction are drawing foreign investment to the region, and promising to lift its people from poverty. The realization of this promise, like all life in the Mekong River basin, is inextricably linked to the continued health of the Mekong River and its fisheries. Learn more
Climate change
The Greater Mekong is destined for big changes due to climate change, making it one of the most vulnerable places on Earth. For the Greater Mekong, climate change compounds existing and projected threats affecting the region’s people, biodiversity and natural resources. This is likely to have cascading effects, for example, water scarcity leading to reduced agricultural productivity, leading to food scarcity, unemployment and poverty. Learn more
Deforestation and land use
Population growth, poor land-use planning and economic policies that encourage the unsustainable use of natural resources are among the factors increasing deforestation and biodiversity loss across the Greater Mekong region. Loss of forest habitat and biodiversity weakens the region's ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This puts at risk communities and multi-million dollar investments, which become more vulnerable to extreme climate events. Learn more
Wildlife trade
This trade is further shrinking populations of the Greater Mekong’s most rare and endangered species, such as tiger and Sun bear. These illegal activities not only cause the loss of some of the world’s most precious species, but also severely alter the ecosystems in which the species and people live. Learn more
The Greater Mekong region's economic corridors as they intersect the region's ecoregions.
Leopard skins illegally traded.
