SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

1 - Introduction“mine” for economies outside the basin. As the population has increased, and the technology availablefor exploiting resources has become more sophisticated, pressures on resources within the basinhave become greater. Many of the people of the basin remain poor, and there is a widespreadperception that the per capita availability of resources in the basin is declining. This has lead togrowing concerns within governments and civil society organisations about increased human impactson the basin’s environment, and the consequences that this may have for people. The challenge forthe Mekong countries is how to develop and improve the economic conditions and livelihoods oftheir people whilst maintaining the biodiversity and ecological health of the Mekong Basin.In 1997, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) published the final report of the Mekong RiverBasin Diagnostic Study. That study analysed existing data to identify key environmental and qualityof life issues in the Mekong Basin. The priority issues identified in the report were:• Deteriorating water quality threatens resources and sustainability.• Changes in hydrological regimes due to development projects.• Sedimentation is critical and intensifying.• Deteriorating groundwater quality threatens resource use and sustainability.• Soil quality is expected to further deteriorate in some areas.• Terrestrial ecosystems in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) are being continually degraded.• Aquatic ecosystems are being degraded by development activities.• Fish throughout the MRB are adversely impacted by development activities and unsustainableharvesting.• Wetlands are threatened by population growth, increased exploitation of biological resources,timber harvest and development activities.• Wildlife throughout the MRB is adversely impacted by development activities andunsustainable hunting.• Biodiversity throughout the MRB is declining.• Populations with subsistence economies in areas of limited natural resources threatensustained environmental quality and sustained quality of life.• Land and water related diseases are degrading public health.• Rural women have low social position, inadequate work skills, and poor awareness of methodsfor sustainably using natural resources.• There is a need to preserve environmentally sound cultural heritage, which contributes tothe stability of socio-ecological systems. 6Detrimental changes in the Mekong’s hydrology is along-term rather than a short-term concernThe present report was not explicitlyintended as an update of the 1997 study.That study was conducted jointly with theUnited Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) and included consideration of theentire basin, including the parts inMyanmar and China. However this reportwill allow a re-evaluation of some of thepriority issues identified in the 1997report. Several of the priority issues,notably those on water quality andsedimentation, may now be identified asless of a concern and therefore lowerpriority based on the data and analyses3