“Saving Chindwin’s Biodiversity” gives the perspectives of the people living in the basin who talk about their lives and livelihoods, the threats to the natural resources such as from mining, and their ongoing efforts to urgently protect the basin’s natural resources before it’s too late. (~11 mins. in Myanmar language with English subtitles, June 2019.)

SEI scientists say Myanmar’s rapid economic development threatens the Chindwin Basin’s flora and fauna and the local livelihoods dependent on these resources. Implementing a host of conservation measures can save these valuable natural resources.

SUMERNET 4 All, invites concept notes for research and policy engagement on water insecurity in the Mekong Region. The call is open now. Submission deadline: 15th May 2019, 23:59 (Bangkok local time).

In Phase 4 of its programme (2019-2027), titled SUMERNET 4 All, the network will focus on water insecurity throughout the Mekong Region by linking evidence-based research on regionally relevant water issues and engaging with policy, local community and vulnerable groups across the region.

How is the issue of biodiversity conservation perceived in Myanmar in terms of economic development, livelihoods and and policy? Where are the policy gaps? Read these policy briefings from SEI Asia's work in the Chindwin River Basin.  

On 19th November 2018, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) signed an agreement with SEI  to support SUMERNET's next five-year phase of research and policy engagement focusing on "water insecurity" issues in the Mekong Region.  

This book explores how the Nam Then 2 (NT2) dam, the largest dam in Laos PDR, came to be built, and how it helped the Government of Lao PDR break ground in attracting private finance for the build-own-operate dam schemes that are a feature of hydropower development in present day Laos. With the NT2, the World Bank and the GoL took the first steps on the dam-building program that has brought us to where we are now: more than 72 new large dams, 12 under construction and 25 in advanced planning in Laos, many involving private-public partnerships. 

The collapse of the Xepian-Xe Nam hydropower dam in Sanamxay district of Attapeu Province, Lao PDR on July 23 is a major tragedy that took the lives of at least 34 Laotians, with at least 100 more still missing and thousands displaced. The question is: was this a failure to plan and account for ‘extreme’ monsoon rain events, or a failure of dam-building implementation? This opinion piece states that meaningful public participation in planning must be recognized as an important facet of risk reduction and impact mitigation.