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The importance of the Mekong Delta and need-to-do things
The importance of the Mekong Delta and need-to-do things
24/8/14
In April 2013, at
The 5th annual forum ‘Nature and Culture conservation for
Sustainable Development of Mekong Delta’, co-organized by the Vietnam Ministry
of Natural Resources and Environment, the People’s Committee of Ca Mau and the
WWF, discussed the importance of maintaining ecosystem services in the Mekong
Delta in the context of climate change.
The Mekong River
flowed freely for 4,900 kilometres from its 5,100-metre high source in Tibet to the coast of Vietnam,
where it finally poured into the South China Sea.
The Mekong is the world’s twelfth longest
river, and the eighth or tenth largest, in terms of the 475 billion
cubic metres of water it discharges annually. Then and now it passes
through or by China, Burma (Myanmar),
Laos, Thailand, Cambodia
and Vietnam.
It is Southeast Asia’s longest river.
The Mekong Delta is the region
in southwestern Vietnam
where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the
sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region
encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam
of 39,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi).[1]
The size of the area covered by water depends on the season. The Mekong Delta
has recently been dubbed as a "biological treasure trove". Over
10,000 new species have been discovered in previously unexplored areas of
Mekong Delta, including a species of
rat thought to be extinct
The Mekong Delta plays an important
role in the sustainable security of Vietnam, particularly as it relates
to food security and the national economy. Facts of importance:
- 20% of Vietnam population live in the
Mekong Delta
- 48% of stape foods for Vietnam are
grown in the Mekong Delta
- 75% of Aquaculture production for Vietnam comes
from the Mekong Delta
- 38% of marine fishery production for Vietnam comes
from the Mekong Delta
- 40% of caught fisheries for Vietnam
comes from th Mekong Delta
The Mekong River
basin now faces numerous challenges. The rapid
and dynamic development of the basin is mounting pressure on natural resources,
including water, along with the unforeseeable impact of climate change and
environmental pollution. Rapid, unplanned economic development, and unchecked
population growth, as well as climate change, continually pressure these
ecosystems and degrade the quality of their services . “The use of ecosystem
services without proper planning has weakened or completely destroyed many of
the Delta’s ecosystems. They are reduced in size, isolated, fragmented due to
economic development (such as forest clearance for aquaculture or agriculture),
infrastructure development, residential area enlargement, and contamination by
production and wastewater. The construction of hydro dams upstream has also
changed the natural flow of the river, leading to the loss of alluvium
annually, and making the delta even more vulnerable to climate change. In the
past, mangrove forest covered almost all coastal areas of the Delta but is
disappearing rapidly. Now mangrove forest covers only Bac Lieu and Ca Mau
provinces (about 77,00ha),” said Mr. Hoang Viet, Climate Change Co-ordinator of
WWF-Vietnam.
So China’s
dam-building plans are worrying enough, but the proposed new mainstream
dams would pose even more serious concerns. In contrast to what has
occurred in China, and until
very recently, there have been no firm plans for the construction of dams
on the mainstream of the Mekong below China. This situation has changed
over the past three years. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed for
11 proposed dams: seven in Laos;
two between Laos and Thailand; and two in Cambodia. The proposed dams
are being backed by foreign private capital or Chinese state-backed firms.
Government secrecy in both Cambodia
and Laos
means that it is difficult to judge which, if any, of these proposed dams
will actually come into being. Attention and concern have focused on two
sites: Don Sahong at the Khone Falls in southern Laos
and Sambor in northeastern Cambodia. The
reason for this attention is that if built these dams would block the fish
migrations that are essential to insure the food supplies of Laos and Cambodia.
According to WWF
experts, the recovery and maintenance of ecosystems and their services require
synchronization of local policies to ensure sustainable livelihoods for those
still dependent on rice planting, fishing and aquaculture. Increasing awareness
of the need for environmental protection in local communities is also
critical—along with the development of Mechanisms and tools to support
ecosystem service payments (PES) .
Vietnam attaches great importance to cooperation within the Mekong River
basin and takes an active, responsible and
constructive part in all activities of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Vietnam will
work closely with other countries to realise the vision of the summit and fully
implement the MRC agreement to boost cooperation with strategic partners so as
to build a river of solidarity, friendship, cooperation, development and
integration.
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All comments [ 10 ]
Besides Red river, Mekong river is the second largest mother river of Vietnam, our life mostly depends on these rivers.
Global climate change poses severe threats to the Mekong Delta with sea level rise. A sea level rise of of 1 meter would innundate 90% of the delta annually. By 2030, the sea level rise could expose around 45 percent of the delta's land area to extreme salinisation and crop damage through flooding.
Really, we need to raise alarm and hold programs to protect those rivers.
Need to stop China's dams and Laos' dams on Mekong rivers, they are threatening many lives not just in Vietnam but in Laos and Cambodia.
The Mekong Delta plays an important role in the sustainable security of Vietnam, particularly as it relates to food security and the national economy.
The Mekong Delta has played the role of a center for rice producing, aquaculture, marine products catching and processing, contributing much to the expor-tation of agricultural and marine products of the whole country.
The government should act quickly to maintain the resources and environmental security for our own goods.
In the coming years, the Mekong Delta Key Economic Zone is assigned by the Government to continue to play the role of a big economic center of the Mekong Delta for rice producing, aquaculture, marine products catching and processing, contributing much to the exportation of agricultural and marine products of the whole country.
Increasing awareness of the need for environmental protection in local communities is very critical.
The Mekong Delta Key Economic Zone holds a very important geographical position in economic trading with the provinces in the area, the Southeastern region, the Western Highlands, the whole nation.
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