Where is mekong basin

There continues to be considerable controversy about these dams since they have disrupted the natural flow of water and sediment to the lower Mekong countries.

The interaction between the Mekong, its tributaries, and the surrounding forests is critical for the regulation of surface water, ground water and sediment. In particular, when water flows through the forest, organic matter from the forest floor is also carried to the flood plains, helping to replenish soil fertility.

The Northern Highlands: This is an upland region that includes northeastern Myanmar, northern Thailand, and northern Laos. The controversial Xayaburi Dam in Laos is in this stretch of the river.

Thailand has also conducted feasibility studies for diverting water from the Kok and Ing basins into the Chao Praya basin. The Greater Annamite Mountains, which straddle the Laos-Vietnam border, is a particularly unique ecoregion that is also sustained by, and divides, the Mekong River. Comprising 75 Protected Areas, it has a distinctive geography and biodiversity. This is a low-lying plain, mostly within northeastern Thailand Isaan and covering about one third of the country.

The area previously supported dry deciduous forest, but is now mostly deforested. In , the Thai government conducted feasibility studies to increase agriculture production to the arid Isaan region by diverting water through a giant tunnel from the Loei estuary, which drains into the Mekong.

During the wet season, the Mekong swells to as much as 30 times its dry season volume, causing the Tonle Sap to reverse the direction of its flow and spill into the floodplain. On average, the Tonle Sap expands from about km 2 to as much as 15, km 2 , and increases in volume from 1. At the end of the wet season, when the Mekong River flow subsides, the Tonle Sap once again reverses and flows downstream draining the floodplain.

This pulse flushes the lake and plain, preventing stagnation and redistributing organic matter and sediment that increases the fertility of the plain, while also creating an exceptionally productive ecosystem for fish. The identification and delineation of KBAs is necessarily a fluid and ongoing process responding to the provision of new information and a constantly changing environment, and thus it is expected that this current freshwater KBA dataset for the Lower Mekong river basin will continue to be refined and updated.

Ultimately the process for identification of KBAs should be nationally driven such that all relevant parties can be directly involved, especially to facilitate any recommendations to change boundaries of existing Protected Areas or KBAs. The work presented in this report represents the first steps in taking this process forwards and it provides a baseline data set to inform future KBA designations.

Full results and recommendations are detailed in the full project report, which is available to the right of this page under Downloads. Our Work. Project Objectives: The primary goals of the project were to: Guide conservation investment priorities by identifying and validating freshwater KBAs in the Lower Mekong river basin through applying the KBA Global Standard IUCN ; Use the new KBA dataset to inform performance standards and environmental safeguard policies of financial institutions and the private sector to avoid or minimise the impacts of their operations in and around these critical sites for freshwater biodiversity, and; Use the KBA dataset as a scientific basis for potential development and expansion of existing protected area networks in the Lower Mekong river basin to better represent threatened and geographically restricted freshwater species.

Project Activities: Desktop analysis : Data previously collated through the IUCN Red List assessments were compiled for the following freshwater taxonomic groups: i fishes; ii molluscs; iii odonates dragonflies and damselflies ; iv decapods crabs and shrimps and; v selected aquatic plants.

In this way, maps were created to show the numbers of potential trigger species per sub-catchment. KBA validation and delineation workshop The KBA identification process is a highly inclusive, consultative and bottom-up exercise.

In Cambodia, the rate of forest loss increased substantially after The Irrawaddy. The Mekong. The Red. The Salween. All of these are in serious decline, because of dams, flood control and overfishing. Related Stories, Projects and Research. Mekong Sediment Basics Chinese Language.

Dams in the Irrawaddy river basin. Sustainability assessment of Vietnam's electricity planning: Using section 1 of the hydropower sustainability assessment protocol.