Dams Along the Mekong Basins. Impact on People and Biodiversity

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Biology - Ecology, Victoria University of Wellington (School of Biology), language: English, abstract: The Mekong River is one of the largest rivers and the second richest in biodiversity in the world. Because of the demand in electricity for social economics development, the lower Mekong riparian countries have constructed and proposed more than one hundred dams. This river is currently under threat as the dams will block migratory fish species from spawning to feeding habitats, and disturb non-migratory fish species habitats. These will lead to a decline in fish recruitment and food security. The dams will also risk the extinction of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin and the Mekong Giant catfish. Moreover, they will seriously affect people s livelihood by destroying agricultural lands and damaging water quality. Consequently, it is important to have an international standard of social and environmental impact assessment before building the dams. Governments should avoid building dams which are located in biodiversity hotspots. Small dam projects should be considered reducing the impact on fish migration by introducing with fishways. Ultimately, the governments should consider the long-term costs and benefits of these development projects on both people and biodiversity.