Mekong River Basin...environmentally sound Mekong River Basin, aiming to achieve this through a more...

Mekong River BasinMobilising grassroots engagement and facilitating high-level dialogue for transboundary water management

IUCN WATER PROGRAMME – DEMONSTRATION CASE STUDY NO.3

WANI Case Study – Mekong River Basin 1

WATER AND NATURE INITIATIVE (WANI) CASE STUDY

MEKONG RIVER BASIN

Authors: Megan Cartin, Rebecca Welling, Ganesh Pangare and Tawatchai Rattanasorn

The Water and Nature Initiate’s (WANI) activities in the Mekong followed a strategy of mobilizing grass-rootsengagement of local stakeholders in decision making, while facilitating high-level dialogues. This helped tobuild networked, multi-stakeholder processes which could begin to bridge local to national and regionaldecision making in the basin to support improved transboundary basin management.

WANI and partners have further tackled challenges in the Mekong River Basin through supporting knowledge-based approaches and emerging dialogue and consensus building between diverse interests and voices.Local collective action and multi-stakeholder approaches combined with support from national governmentalapproaches have gained traction in the region and are ongoing. National governments continue to besupported and linkages to regional institutions facilitated. The emerging issues identified in the early years ofWANI continue to be relevant and to resonate across the region. These results were achieved throughfocusing on the interlocking themes of knowledge, ecosystem services, negotiation and multi-stakeholderplatforms. This built on the already existing work under the larger UNDP Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity Project.

Many lessons have been identified from WANI’s work carried out in the Mekong basin. Among these is theunderstanding that multi-stakeholder participatory processes are needed to mobilise partnerships andrelationships that form the basis for building mutual understanding between multiple partners and interests; forexample, among Ministries, local government, NGOs and civil society. Additionally, that community-levelresearch can effectively contribute to knowledge and decision making on IWRM, to ensure the priorities andneeds of local people are fully represented. Finally, that widening the scope of environmental flows from ascientific concept to a practical water management tool is challenging and therefore there is a need for a step-by-step approach that gains in-country ownership over time.

New initiatives continue to build on the work that WANI and partners carried out in the region. These initiativeshave focused on national multi-stakeholder dialogues and work by National Working Groups in influencingwater policy development. Presently, the Mekong Water Dialogues project, started under the first phase ofWANI, continues to focus on influencing water policy development through facilitating multi-stakeholderdialogues in the region. The BRIDGE (Building River Dialogue and Governance) Project, launched in 2011,aims to build water governance capacities through learning, demonstration, leadership, and consensus-building.

Highlights

m Multi-stakeholder platforms: The Mekong Water Dialogues increased civil society participation.

m Grassroots Tai Baan research scaled up to other regions of Thailand and into Lao PDR and Cambodia.

m First environmental flows assessment in Viet Nam and subsequent understanding and scaling up ofconcept and practice to other regions in the Mekong Basin.

m Better understanding of ecosystem services through aquatic resources, biodiversity and livelihoodsassessment in the Attapeu province and Upper Mekong.

m The first in-depth study of national legislation to interpret findings of the World Commission on Dams.

m Ecosystems approach adopted in planning to respond to development challenges.

Figure 1. Map of the Mekong River Basin (Source: IUCN / Lisa Idris / Map generated through ArcMap 9.3 using data from ESRI, USGS and FAO)

1.1 A transboundary river system

The Mekong is the longest river in Southeast Asia, beginning its 4,200 km journey in the mountains ofthe Tibetan Plateau. From here, it flows through China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia andViet Nam, finally reaching the South China Sea. Its annual volume of water (above 475,000 million m3)places it eighth in the world table of great rivers. The river and its numerous tributaries, backwaters,lakes, and swamps support many unique ecosystems and a wide range of globally-threatenedspecies.

The productivity of the Mekong River Basin is dependent on a dramatic process of flooding andrecession, which endows the basin wide range of habitats. The timing, extent and duration of floods,and the regular inundation of habitats are all important factors in determining the productivity of the river.This ecosystem is fundamental to the viability of natural resource-based rural livelihoods of a populationof 55 million people living in the Lower Mekong Basin – equivalent to more than 90% of the populationof the entire Mekong Basin, and about one third of the total population of Cambodia, Lao PDR,Thailand and Viet Nam combined.

2 WANI Case Study – Mekong River Basin

1. WATER GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES AND ENVIRONMENTAL

DEGRADATION


1.2 Water Governance Challenges

With a lack of adequate knowledge of basincharacteristics and water resources management,the strongly centralized, state controlled systems ofMekong basin governance were wrestling with howto approach development challenges. Whilst policyreforms had been initiated, they were not necessarilyappropriate or sufficient. Furthermore, when waterrelated laws had been developed, there were stillmajor gaps in the supporting knowledge andinformation. Appropriate institutional arrangementscorresponding to the policy directives and legalframeworks were not always effectively put in place,resulting in lack of coordination between the variousagencies related to management of water resourcesboth nationally and regionally across the basin.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) wasestablished in 1995 and includes Cambodia, LaoPDR and Viet Nam as members and China andMyanmar as dialogue partners. The MRC’s StrategicPlan (2006-2010) presents a shared vision for aneconomically prosperous, socially equitable andenvironmentally sound Mekong River Basin, aimingto achieve this through a more integrated approach.The MRC has attempted to engage with variousstakeholders as part of its participatory approach totackling water management issues across the basin.

It is within this context that WANI and partners haveattempted to engage both national governments andinstitutions and regional bodies in tackling watergovernance challenges.

1.3 Environmental degradation, livelihoodinsecurity and conflict

Within the Mekong Basin there are areas which arepredominantly low-level subsistence systems andvulnerable to shocks such as climate variability.Some of the most significant threats to theselivelihoods come from environmental degradationand habitat loss. This situation is compounded by agrowth in water and energy demands and alterationof natural flows as a result of infrastructuredevelopments along the river. Increasing pressure onalready degrading water resources has resulted in anincrease in conflicts between upstream anddownstream water users. Therefore, a key challengefor the region is to negotiate the reasonable andequitable utilization of water between the riparianStates. For this process to succeed, it is crucial thatthere are effective national and internationalprocesses for knowledge sharing on the benefits,impacts and risks of alternative developmentoptions.

Floating market in the Mekong Delta


Box 1: Mekong Wetlands and Biodiversity Project (MWBP)

The MWBP was a programme of partnerships involving a diverse range of local, national andregional actors, with an almost equally diverse source of funding and co-finance. The programmewas led and implemented by UNDP, IUCN and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in partnershipwith national and local government agencies of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam andwas implemented from mid 2004 until the end of 2006. The programme aimed to strengthen thecapacity of organisations and people to develop sustainable livelihoods and manage wetlandbiodiversity resources wisely. MWBP covered a wide range of issues, including biodiversity andwetland assessments and mapping.

As a result of this initiative, the MWBP website, http://www.mekongwetlands.org, was set up andhoused a significant body of data and information about wetlands biodiversity and livelihoods in theMekong Region. These documents raise key findings and recommendations about threats,opportunities, research, governance and policy gaps for improved wetlands management in theLower Mekong Basin. They illustrate major economic values and worth of the products and servicesprovided by wetlands and surrounding livelihoods in the region. WANI supported the MWBP in itswork on livelihoods and wetlands.

2.1 Overview

The UNDP Mekong Wetlands Biodiversity Programme(MWBP) was undertaken 2003–2006 with the aim ofsustaining livelihoods by improving the managementof wetlands in the Mekong Basin (see Box 1). TheIUCN Regional Office and programme the Water andNature Initiative (WANI) also provided importantassistance to the MWBP. This included building linksbetween the local research conducted in eachdemonstration site, in assessments (such asenvironmental flows in the Songkhram Basin, andmonitoring of the Upper Mekong region) and inregional multi-stakeholder dialogues.

2.2 Knowledge and information as effectivedecision making tools

As a result of WANI’s support to the extension of TaiBaan research (see Box 2), the practice has been‘scaled up’ by extending the concept and practice toother parts of Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia andViet Nam. As a result of scaling up within Thailand,participatory assessments in the Songkhram RiverBasin (a tributary river of the Mekong) were carriedout by 240 villagers from 4 villages in partnershipwith local government, to research ecosystemsand livelihoods. In each village teams of 10villagers addressed one of 6 research topics.Information gathered included the identification of28 sub-ecosystems, representing a more

2. TOWARDS SOLUTIONS: ACTIONS AND RESULTS

sophisticated classification system than had beenapplied in national wetland classification. In addition,detailed characteristics of the fish populations wheregathered, including the identification of 128 fishspecies with their breeding, spawning and feedinghabitats and migration pathways were documentedalong with the cultural beliefs associated with them.

This village-led research helped to develop alivelihoods focused approach to river basinmanagement that supported local governmentalstructures working in partnership with local NGOsand village groups. This has resulted in thepublication of research findings in 2005 in Thai andthe development of a network of Thai Baanresearchers who are now actively engaged in theriver basin committees established by the state. Twothousand copies of the final report of the Songkhramresearch have now been published in Englishproviding a summary of the research findings. In2010 in Thailand, over 180 representatives of localcommunity groups from 10 river basins cametogether in a workshop and synthesized over adecade of experience in Tai Baan researchapproaches in relation to water resourcemanagement. This valuable compilation is now beingused as the basis for developing a training manualand extension efforts to promote the replication of TaiBaan approaches in additional areas both withinThailand and in neighbouring countries.

Box 2. What is Tai Baan Research?

Tai Baan Research or Villagers’ Research is when local people themselves define researchobjectives, agree on methodologies, establish research teams comprising local people, undertakefield work and go through a process of peer review. This is an empirical process based on localknowledge and is a process that is owned by local people themselves so that they are better able tolearn from each other and document their knowledge and represent their interests in policy anddecision-making arenas.

Tai Baan research started in 2000 by local people and Thai NGOs involved in the campaign tomobilise the Thai government to open the gates of the Pak Mun Dam for at least part of the year.This resulted in the opening of the gates for an eleven month trial period. The University of UbonRatchathani was contracted to undertake an assessment of the impacts of opening the gates onthe fisheries downstream and livelihoods. Local people and NGOs were concerned that such astudy would not represent their interests fully and therefore decided to undertake their own research– Tai Baan research. Tai Baan has rapidly gained credibility by ‘bringing in’ and respecting theknowledge of local fisherman and farmers, and effectively communicating their knowledge to otheractors. By mobilizing local communities to record their indigenous knowledge, Tai Baan researchhas enabled communities to represent their own ‘social reality’ and through media and publicforums, this knowledge can be mainstreamed into water management research and implementation.This approach to research and learning has spread to other regions of Thailand and beyond.


2.3 Ecosystems services: building anunderstanding

Environmental flows The WANI project in the Huong Basin in VietNam focused on healthy ecosystems andprosperity for the diverse peoples whodepend on them for their livelihoods. TheHuong River Basin rapid environmental flowsassessment, completed in 2005 andcoordinated by WANI, was the first everundertaken in Viet Nam. Broad interest in theconcept emerged, setting off a process oflearning and scaling up at national andregional levels. The Huong environmentalflows work was instrumental in theenvironmental flows work in Thailand.

Work on environmental flows by WANI and partnersin Northeast Thailand on the Songkhram Riverrevealed that the water level in the river is controlledby the water level in the Mekong mainstream river.This sheds new light on the importance ofrecognising the potential impact on the tributarieswhile modifying flow patterns on the Mekongmainstream river. The findings indicated that the highproductivity of the floodplains and rich fisheries are

dependent on the flood pulse derived from within thebasin and the Mekong River influenced flows. WANIand partners facilitated the establishment of a jointBasin committee between the four provincesmanaging the Songkhram River to facilitate jointplanning and management of Songkhram River as aBasin.

Fisherman on the Songkhram River


Province in Cambodia on integrating wetlandseconomic values into river basin management, as ameans to further understand the crucial role thatwetlands play in livelihood sustainability. Thesubsequent report was an important contribution tobasin knowledge and understanding as it introducedecosystem valuation as an approach tounderstanding how to manage wetlands as well asthe contribution to livelihoods by ecosystems.

Biodiversity and livelihoodsThe Upper Mekong region of Lao PDR, isundergoing rapid ecological, economic and socialchanges that are driven by many disparate forces:

the opening of river navigation tocommercial vessels; the development ofroads and the construction of hydropowerdams on the mainstream Mekong insouth-western China. These changes andthe way that they are managed havesignificant implications for both the UpperMekong and the Mekong region as awhole.

As a response to this situation, WANIhelped facilitate two biodiversity scopingsurveys in the Upper Mekong. The first ofthese surveys was carried out incollaboration with the Lao National MekongCommittee. In a follow-up survey, WANI, incollaboration with Environmental Research,as well as other Lao national and provincialgovernment agencies conducted a furtherscoping study on the Upper Mekong. Thesynthesis report produced, entitled “AnUncertain Future: Biodiversity andLivelihood along the Mekong River inNorthern Lao PDR,” provides a solid

knowledge base for understanding the linkagesbetween ecosystems and local livelihoods.

Through this work WANI has supported awarenessraising of the rapid and profound changes takingplace in the river amongst inhabitants in the region.This has led to reassessment of how they useresources from the river. For example, in 2006, withguidance from WANI and partners in the MekongWetlands Biodiversity Programme, fishermen on theThai side of the Upper Mekong placed a moratoriumon fishing of the Giant catfish, a highly prized butincreasingly rare endemic species in the region.

Intensive use of the river banks of the Mekong for cultivation

Aquatic resources and livelihoodsWANI and partners worked with local villagers in theAttapeu Province, Lao PDR to determine thenutritional value of their wetland resources anddemonstrate how to better conserve and harnessthese resources. People from the three communitiesof Tamoyot Village, Sanamsai District, Saisi Village,Saisetha District, and Gayeu Village, SamakisaiDistrict participated in the research. The success ofthe research process carried out in the AttapeuProvince, Lao PDR encouraged a complementarystudy which was carried out in the Stung Treng

There were important overlaps between the WANIHuong and Mekong river projects. Environmentalflows demonstrations in Viet Nam and Thailand werethe basis for region-wide awareness raising andcapacity building. This focused on the promotionand application of the WANI toolkit FLOW – theessentials of environmental flows and includedtranslation of the toolkit into six regional languages:Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Khmer, Lao andBurmese. Translations were led by inter-disciplinaryworking groups in each case, ensuring translation ofthe concepts rather than just the words, andsuccessfully building national-level ownership of theconcepts and a constituency advocating andpromoting flow application in each country.


Mekong Water Dialogues multi-stakeholder meeting in Cambodia

2.4 Building national capacities: Moving forwardfrom the World Commission on Dams

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) reportarticulates a decision making framework for ‘largedams’, or ‘large water projects and water-relatedenergy projects’. It is a guide, not a blue-print,offered by the commissioners as their contribution tothe ongoing, worldwide debate over this type of‘development’ project. Of course, there are othervaluable viewpoints being expressed bygovernments, scholars, activists, developers andfunders. Some of these can be used to strengthenand build upon the framework offered by the WCD.Since its formulation and release, the ‘WCDframework’ has been evaluated for use as both animplementation and advocacy tool. It is complex.WANI has carried forward the WCD ideas intonational and regional discussions in the MekongRegion from 2001–2004.

WANI oversaw the design and implementation of the‘Regional Interpretation of the findings of the WorldCommission on Dams in the lower Mekong RiverBasin’ 2003-4. The objective of the project was tobuild capacity in two ways: provide tools to assistgovernments in implementing the Strategic Prioritiesof the 2004 Report and to build capacity of nationalexperts through the research process.

The project supported the translation, publicationand dissemination of the Strategic Framework of theReport in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. InCambodia and Lao PDR, a Working Group wasestablished with representatives from a range ofgovernment agencies and NGOs to jointly undertaketranslation and editing of the Strategic Frameworkand other key sections of the report. This projectwas the first in-depth study of national legislation inMekong riparian countries and regional agreementsapplicable to the Mekong Basin, and theirrelationship to the Strategic Priorities identified in theDams and Development Report. As such, it was asignificant contribution both for its usefulness as areference and as a benchmark for future analysis.

It should be noted that while dams can alter the flowof the river with an array of consequences, they canalso bring benefits in terms of raising livingstandards, increasing access to electricity for manyhouseholds and infrastructure and developmentopportunities. The subject of dams and other

structures continues to be an ongoing issue in thedebates about the Mekong and their impendingdevelopment is a main driver in developingapproaches linking national and regional concerns.

2.5 Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs):Mekong region water dialogues

The six countries sharing the Mekong River facesimilar challenges with water governance. However,different priorities cause conflicting management anddecision making, resulting in risks to equitabledevelopment. As a response, the WANI-supportedMekong Region Water Dialogues Project aimed todevelop country-led and regional dialogueprocesses enabling better flow of information andknowledge, greater stakeholder participation, and anincreased appreciation of the inter-dependence ofissues. Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) assistsociety to reflect on the wisdom of past actions,more comprehensively explore and assess futureoptions, and more openly negotiate workablestrategies and agreements. Transboundary waterdevelopment in the Mekong Region affectinglivelihoods and ecosystems needed to be moreinformed and influenced by public participation indecision-making and information sharing.Democratic regional water governance throughmulti-stakeholder platforms provides space for thescrutiny of different perspectives and developmentscenarios as well as a more participatory approachto decision-making.


WANI co-convened the ‘Mekong Region WatersDialogue: Exploring Water Futures Together’ multi-stakeholder platform in 2006 to put the principles ofsustainable development of water resources intopractice. This was a regional multi-stakeholderplatform organized to provide opportunity for a highquality, multifaceted debate and learning aiming toimprove water governance in the Mekong Region. Inaddition, National Working Groups, comprisingrepresentative experts from government, civilsociety/non-government organisations, the privatesector and academia/research sector were formedto guide the implementation of the Mekong RegionWater Dialogues in each country.

The project has been very successful in providing anopportunity for increased awareness andunderstanding of relevant decision-makingframeworks. It was the first such dialogue that set aprecedent for governments and organizations tomove towards more accountability and transparencyin their activities. Concretely, it allowed them to learn

about the roles of theDevelopment Banks, andMekong River Commission andcomment on their draft strategicplans. The increased publicscrutiny was very challenging foractors, such as World Bank andAsian Development Bank withtheir process and productsbeing publicly evaluated. TheDialogue was appreciated by allparticipants as a ‘first step in adifficult road’ to enhance watergovernance in the Mekongregion. Participants affirmed thatthe Dialogue ‘…was ameaningful and importantinitiative’ which resulted in ‘ashared learning’ and ‘a clearerand deeper understanding ofwater and water-related issues inthe Mekong region’, as it

provided a common platform for interaction amongstakeholders who seldom meet to discuss theircommon concerns about water resource use anddevelopment in the region.

Presently, the Mekong Water Dialogues continue tobuild on the work that WANI and partners carried outin the region. In 2010, results focused on local multi-stakeholder dialogues and work by National WorkingGroups in influencing water policy development. Forexample, the new Lao Water Policy (2010–2020)and Water Strategy (2010–2015) were developed bythe Water Resources and Environment administrationof Lao PDR, using the National Working Groups as aplatform for compiling a wide range of stakeholderinputs. Also with strong support from the MekongWater Dialogues project, the Government of LaoPDR acceded to the Ramsar Convention onWetlands. In Viet Nam, mirroring development in LaoPDR, the National Working Groups mobilizedstakeholder inputs into the new National TargetProgramme on Water, which incorporates theimplementation of water allocation and protectionplans for Vietnamese rivers.

Girls in traditional costume watching the boat parade held to open the annual Giant Catfish Festival

Chiang Khong, Thailand

Figure 2. The Mekong Basin before and after

3.2 Lessons learned

Many lessons have been identified from WANI’s workcarried out in the Mekong basin. The main lessonsare:

1. Multi-stakeholder participatory processes areneeded to mobilise partnerships andrelationships that form the basis for buildingmutual understanding between multiple partnersand interests for example, between Ministries,local government, NGOs and civil society. This isa complex and time consuming process thatevolves over many years, but is vital toestablishing actions to tackle large, complexissues. The Mekong Water Dialogues in 2006were one of the first steps in a process to initiatea wider regional dialogue that now aims to linknational water priorities to basin and regionalrealities.

2. Community-level research can effectivelycontribute to the knowledge and data thatinforms decision making on IWRM, ensuring that

3.1 Synopsis of results

A lack of adequate knowledge about basincharacteristics and water management coupled witha centralized water governance system meant thatthe management of the Mekong River Basin as awhole was fragmented with conflicting priorities. Thisimpeded responding to development challengessuch as environmental degradation and conflictbetween water users over diminishing resources.

WANI and partners have attempted to tackle thesechallenges through supporting knowledge-basedapproaches and emerging dialogue and consensusbuilding between diverse interests and voices.Although the impact on such a complex river basin isdifficult to assess, the Tai Baan and multi-stakeholderapproaches and support to national governmentalapproaches have gained traction in the region andare ongoing. National governments continue to besupported and linkages to regional institutionsfacilitated. The emerging issues identified in the earlyyears of WANI continue to be relevant and toresonate across the region.


3. RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED

BEFORE

Little knowledge of environmental flowsconcepts or practice

Strongly centralised state control combined with fractured regional processes with little civil society involvement

Inappropriate knowledge base

Lack of coordinated response to development challenges

AFTER

First environmental flows assessments in Viet Nam led to assessmentsin Thailand

Increased civil society particpation through dialogue, research andregional MSPs

Ecosystems approach adopted to respond to development challengesthrough small-scale demonstrations

Increased knowledge and understanding of basin dynamics andmanagement needs

Initial development of National Working Groups which support dialogueand consensus at national level


considerably helped to promote environmentalflows at national and basin level.

4. Livelihoods are dependent on local resourceswhich are supplied by functioning ecosystems.This is often overlooked and undervalued andcannot always be seen in terms of directeconomic benefits. The relationship betweenlocal stakeholder and the resources provided by

the Mekong waters iscomplex and undergoingrapid local changes ascompletion for resourcesintensifies. However, localactions can quantify andreassess how resources areused. Studies, surveys andassessments haveunderpinned the relationshipbetween ecosystems andlivelihoods which is nowbeing mainstreamedlivelihood security andpoverty reduction projects.

5. The size and complexity ofriver basins such as theMekong are major issues asit is much more difficult togenerate longer termimpacts at larger basinscales. Working acrossscales from mobilisinggrassroots stakeholders to

advocating and facilitating for high level dialoguesrequires 5-10 years of on-the ground actions with anarray of partners. Demonstrating approaches andsolutions at discrete, local levels and negotiating forregion wide dialogues was a sound strategy. Thesewere scaled up and proved to be a successfulapproach to coping with complexity and initiatingfurther leverage for actions and interventions thathave rippled out across the basins of the Mekong.

the needs and priorities of local people are fullyrepresented. This approach can be successfullyapplied in other basins if it is tailored to localcontexts and the results and benefits are clearlyarticulated. The Tai Baan model of villageresearch was successfully applied in theSongkhram basin and has resulted in theestablishment of a Tai Baan network that ispromoting the approach throughout Thailand andother Mekong countries.

Lao woman fishing in the Mekong

3. Widening the scope of environmental flows froma scientific concept to a tool for watermanagement is challenging. There is a need fora step-by-step approach that gains in-countryownership over time. Environmental flowsapplications help to mobilise partnerships andrelationships that are the basis for developinglonger - term water management strategies. Thetranslations of FLOW into 6 regional languages


NEXT STEPS

4.1 Further governance initiatives

WANI began its attempts to improve water resourcesmanagement for the Mekong River through several,initial small interventions which have resulted inattracting support for larger interventions and this haslaid the foundations for further work (see Figure 3).IUCN has made considerable headway inaddressing water governance issues in the MekongRegion. WANI’s activities can be seen to havecreated a ripple effect, spreading information andknowledge to inform new initiatives and projectsalong the Mekong.

4.2 Mekong Water Dialogues

The Mekong Water Dialogues, supported underWANI, has become a fully fledged initiativeimplemented by IUCN and funded by the Ministry forForeign Affairs of Finland. Under this initiative, IUCNworks with Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand andVietnam to improve water governance by facilitatingtransparent and inclusive decision making to improvelivelihood security, human and ecosystem health.The initiative aims to provide an opportunity forgovernment, the private sector and civil society in theregion to participate in dialogues and to enabledifferent perspectives about water relateddevelopment to be considered.

Figure 3. WANI’s involvement within the wider scope of initiatives in the Mekong River Basin(Key: BLUE = WANI components; YELLOW = Regional Commission Engagement (MRC);

PINK = scaling up co-financing


4.3 Building River Dialogue and Governance(BRIDGE) project

The BRIDGE (Building River Dialogue andGovernance) Project, launched in 2011 aims to buildwater governance capacities through learning,demonstration, leadership, and consensus-building.In the Mekong region this includes the followingrivers: Sekong (Vietnam-Lao PDR), Sre Pok(Vietnam-Cambodia), Sesan river (Vietnam-

Floating Village in Tonlé Sap, Cambodia

Cambodia) which are important tributaries of theMekong and contribute 20% of the total flow of themainstream Mekong. The process has started byfocusing on building up national commissions tomanage each basin which will eventually be scaledup to a basin wide commission.

Donor support

DGIS (WANI), UNDP, Wetlands International, World Bank, Government of Finland, SwedishEnvironmental Secretariat for Asia (SENSA).

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

WORLD HEADQUARTERSRue Mauverney 281196 Gland, [email protected] +4122 999 0000Fax +41 22 999 0002www.iucn.org/waterwww.waterandnature.org

Design: Tim Davis, DJEnvironmental, UKPrint: GPS Printing, FrancePhoto credits: Cover IUCN/Taco Anema, p.3, p.6, p.7 IUCN/Ganesh Pangare, p.5, p.10 Wayne Arnold, p.12 Claire Warmenbol

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