Dam Threatens Mekong Ecology

Abstract

The News of the Week story “Megadam gets green light” (9 November, p. [726][1]) seems to provide strong support for the cautionary Letter by B. Gong et al. (“Limits to religious conservation efforts,” 9 November, p. [1740][2]) arguing that while Buddhism may be a powerful resource for conservation, it cannot replace strong environmental governance and policy. The Xayaburi Dam is a very bad idea and clearly represents a massive threat to the ecology of the Mekong River and its people. Yet it proceeds with the support of at least two predominantly Buddhist countries, Laos and Thailand, where protests by Buddhist citizens have gone unheeded ([ 1 ][3]). The environmental governance and policy offered by Laos and Thailand to support the dam is especially dangerous in that it sets a bad precedent that will most certainly affect the construction of at least 11 additional dams planned for the Mekong River ([ 2 ][4]). The decision to build the dam is based on a seriously flawed environmental impact assessment ([ 3 ][5]) and totally ignores an earlier agreement in 2011 ([ 4 ][6]) with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam that would extend the decision-making process until major gaps in the current knowledge about the environmental and social impacts of the Xayaburi Dam are reconciled. When those knowledge gaps are filled with factual information, it will be abundantly clear that the Xayaburi dam should not be built. ![Figure][7] Mekong River. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/INTERNATIONAL RIVERS, PIAPORN DEETES 1. [↵][8] “Thai government supports Xayaburi Dam,” Bangkok Post, 11 June 2012. 2. [↵][9] 1. M. Osborne , Asia Pacific J. (11 January 2010); [www.japanfocus.org/-Milton-Osborne/3286][10]. 3. [↵][11] 1. G. R. Lanza , “Review of the Ch. Karnchang public company limited environmental impact assessment (EIA) report to the Mekong River Commission” (International Rivers, Berkeley, CA, 2011); [www.internationalrivers.org/files/attached-files/lanza\_water\_quality_final.pdf][12]. 4. [↵][13] Mekong River Commission, “Lower Mekong countries take prior consultation on Xayaburi project to ministerial level” (2011); [www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/news/lower-mekong-countries-take-prior-consultation-on-xayaburi-project-to-ministerial-level/][14]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.338.6108.726-b [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6114/1740.1.full [3]: #ref-1 [4]: #ref-2 [5]: #ref-3 [6]: #ref-4 [7]: pending:yes [8]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [9]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [10]: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Milton-Osborne/3286 [11]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [12]: http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/attached-files/lanza_water_quality_final.pdf [13]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [14]: http://www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/news/lower-mekong-countries-take-prior-consultation-on-xayaburi-project-to-ministerial-level/