World must help protect vital Mekong river: activists

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

BANGKOK (AFP) — The construction of six dams along the Mekong River could displace tens of thousands of people and endanger over a thousand aquatic species, environmental groups warned Tuesday, calling for international intervention.

The planned hydropower dams on the Mekong in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia could displace tens of thousands of people and endanger up to 1,300 aquatic species including the rare Mekong giant catfish and the Irrawaddy dolphin, activists said.

Environmental groups want international donors, who fund Southeast Asia's Mekong River Commission, to pressure the commission into investigating the social and ecological impact of each dam and to ensure people were compensated for any loss of livelihood.

Donors, among them the World Bank, the...