Mekong forest facing sharp decline: WWF

3 May 2013
Channel News Asia
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deforestation / hydroelectric project / Junta Rules / Laos / Laos’s Xayaburi dam / Mangroves / Mekong forest / Mekong region / Mekong river / Mekong river Ecosystem / Myanmar / rice / rice paddy / Rubber plantation / Southeast Asia / Southern Mekong Sections / Thailand / wildlife / WWF / Xayaburi dam

BANGKOK: Demand for farmland may strip the Greater Mekong region of a third of its remaining forest cover over the next two decades without swift government action, a leading conservation group warned Thursday. Forests are being cleared for commodities such as rubber and rice while illegal logging is decimating many protected zones, WWF said in a report, adding a contentious dam on Mekong river will deepen already severe ecosystem damage. “The Greater Mekong is at a crossroads,” said Peter Cutter of the WFF, adding Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar lost between 22-24 percent of their forests from 1973 — the first point of available data — to 2009, while 43 percent of woodland was stripped from Thailand and Vietnam. … The US$3.8 billion hydroelectric project, which is due to be completed in around five years, has sharply divided the four Mekong nations — Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. …

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