Backgrounder: The Mekong River

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/25/content_10108110.htm

VIENTIANE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Mekong River Commission (MRC) on Thursday launched a consultation meeting for the regional Mekong Hydropower Program platform here on Thursday, aiming to shape a way for the river's future hydropower development, which is shared by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and China.

The Mekong River Basin is defined by the land area surrounding all the streams and rivers that flow into the 4,800 kilometer-long Mekong River. This includes parts of China, Myanmar and Vietnam, nearly one third of Thailand and most of Cambodia and Laos. With atotal land area of 795,000 square kilometers, the Mekong River Basin is nearly the size of France and Germany together. From its headwaters thousands of meters high on the Tsinghai-Tibetan Plateau, it flows through six distinct geographical regions, each with characteristic features of elevation, topography and land cover.



The most abundant resources in the Mekong River Basin are water and biodiversity. Only the Amazon River Basin has greater diversity of plant and animal life. So much water flows into the mainstream Mekong from the surrounding basin area where, on average, 15,000 cubic meters of water passes by every second. This water nourishes large tracts of forest and wetlands which produce building materials, medicines and food, provides habitats for thousands of species of plants and animals and supports an inland capture fishery with an estimated commercial value of 2 billion U.S. dollars per year. Known mineral resources include tin, copper, iron ore, natural gas, potash, gem stones and gold.

Farmers in the Mekong River Basin produce enough rice to feed 300 million people a year. Demand for agricultural products from the basin is estimated to increase anywhere from 20 to 50 percent in the next 30 years. Agriculture, along with fishing and forestry,employs 85 percent of the people living in the basin.

The Lower Mekong River Basin (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam) is home to approximately 60 million people. There are over 100 different ethnic groups living within the basin's boundaries, making it one of the most culturally diverse regions of the world.

The Mekong River Basin is one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world. The basin provides a wide variety of breeding habitats for over 1,300 species of fish and the annual rise and fall of the river ensures a nutrient-rich environment on which fish can feed. Conservative estimates indicate that basin dwellers eat over one and half million tons of fish per year. The fishery provides a livelihood not just for fishers and their families but for thousands more who are employed full or part time making and selling food products and fishing gear, repairing boats and providing hundreds of related services.


Editor: Wang Hongjiang