The second edition of the Greater Mekong Subregion Atlas of the Environment again champions the environment of this unique part of Asia, an area straddled by rivers great and small, with bountiful watersheds, wetlands, and forests. The Atlas celebrates the peoples of the subregion, and presents the environmental and development challenges they face and their responses. It reminds us that the subregion's peoples and communities are key to maintaining its environment. The Atlas captures in one volume maps, remote-sensing images, and essential information on one of the most culturally, ethnically, and biologically diverse regions in the world. The subregion is made up of Cambodia; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province of the People's Republic of China; the Lao People's Democratic Republic; Myanmar; Thailand; and Viet Nam.

The second edition of the Greater Mekong Subregion Atlas of the Environment again champions the environment of this unique part of Asia, an area straddled by rivers great and small, with bountiful watersheds, wetlands, and forests. The Atlas celebrates the peoples of the subregion, and presents the environmental and development challenges they face and their responses. It reminds us that the subregion’s peoples and communities are key to maintaining its environment. The Atlas captures in one volume maps, remote-sensing images, and essential information on one of the most culturally, ethnically, and biologically diverse regions in the world. The subregion is made up of Cambodia; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province of the People’s Republic of China; the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Myanmar; Thailand; and Vietnam

This report looks at both negative and positive drivers that affect forest change in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) in the last 25 years (1990-2015) in order to have a better understanding of their influence on forests in the region. It evaluates policies and measures in relation to drivers of forest change. Agricultural expansion, infrastructure development particularly hydropower dams and road construction, logging, mining operations and forest fires are the most dominant drivers of fores t loss in GMS. At a positive note, almost all countries in the region have adopted policies that support SFM and balance the social, economic and environmental aspects of forestry. Furthermore, there seems to be a movement towards sustainable policies which influence the shift towards SFM, forest conservation and afforestation and reforestation. Although it seems the policies addressing the drivers of deforestation exist at local, national and international level, their effectiveness has been mi xed. T his report presents forest changes in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) over a period of 25 years between 1990 and 2015. It describes key drivers that have affected these changes. Some drivers influenced forests negatively in that they resulted in deforestation and forest degradation. On the other hand, positive drivers promoted sustainable forest management (SFM), afforestation and reforestation and forest conservation.

The Mekong River is a vital and valuable resource, with huge development potential for the six states through which it flows. Given the significant asymmetry of power between those states, however, there is a real risk that some might utilise it to the detriment of others. Without a sense of regional belonging, it is difficult to imagine that these states and their constituent communities will take regional imperatives to heart, participate in joint regulatory frameworks, or adopt behaviours for upstream-downstream and lateral cooperation over the appropriation and use of their shared resources. How effectively has closer interdependence of the Mekong countries accommodated the development of a political-social-cultural space conducive to the growth of a regional "we-ness" among not only political elites, but also the general public? The contributors to this volume approach this question from a range of directions, including the impacts of tourism, regional development programmes, the Mekong Power Grid, and Sino-US rivalry. This edited volume presents valuable insights for scholars of international relations, Asian studies, development studies, environment studies, policy studies, and human geography.

The environment is one of the defining issues of our times, and it is closely linked to questions and dilemmas surrounding economic development. Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most economically and demographically dynamic regions, and it is also one in which a host of environmental issues raise themselves. The Routledge Handbook of the Environment in Southeast Asia is a collection of 30 chapters dealing with the most significant scholarly debates in this rapidly growing field of study. Structured in four main parts, it gives a comprehensive regional overview of, and insight into, the environment in Southeast Asia. Wide-ranging and balanced, this handbook promotes scholarly understanding of how environmental issues are dealt with from diverse theoretical perspectives. It offers a detailed empirical understanding of the myriad environmental problems and challenges faced in Southeast Asia. This is the first publication of its kind in this field; a helpful companion for a global audience and for scholars of Southeast Asian studies from a variety of disciplines.

This book assesses river health in the Lancang River Basin with regard to the impacts of hydropower projects. It studies key components of the transboundary effects of Chinese dams on the Lancang River including its hydrology, sediment transport, water temperature, and fish community. It also investigates the specific impacts of hydropower on women’s lives and livelihoods, and factors that influence women’s participation in river health management. In closing, the lessons learned regarding environmental protection and hydropower development in the Lancang River Basin are shared, e.g. with hydropower developers and regulators in Laos.

Celebrating the people of the Mekong subregion, this remarkable atlas is more than just a series of maps; this book also includes remote sensing images and essential cultural information about one of the most ethnically and biologically diverse regions of the world. The subregion includes Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Yunnan Province in China.

An accessible introduction to large rivers, including coverage of the geomorphology, hydrology, ecology, and environments of large river systems This indispensible book takes a structured and global approach to the subject of large rivers, covering geomorphology, hydrology, ecology, and anthropogenic environment. It offers a thorough foundation for readers who are new to the field and presents enlightening discussions about issues of management at the worldwide scale. The book also examines possible future adaptations that may come about due to climate change. The book has benefitted from contributions by Professor W.J. Junk on the ecology of floodplains and Professor Olav Slaymaker on the large arctic rivers. Introducing Large Rivers is presented in three parts. Part 1 provides an introduction to the world’s large rivers and their basins. It covers source, transfer, and storage of their water and sediment; Pleistocene inheritance; the ecology of channels and floodplains; deltas; and more. Several large rivers are discussed in the next part. These include the Amazon Mississippi, Nile, Ganga-Brahmaputra System, Mekong, and Yangtze. The last part examines changes in large rivers and our management of river systems. It studies anthropogenic alterations such as land use and deforestation in large river basins; structural control systems like dams and reservoirs on channels; and ecological changes. It finishes with chapters on the management of large rivers, covering both technical and political aspects, and the future of the world’s big river systems. Introducing Large Rivers is ideal as an introductory textbook on large rivers for future earth and environmental scientists and river managers. It will also benefit advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying geography, geology, ecology, and river management.

This publication presents a snapshot of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) environmental strategies, programs, initiatives, partnerships, and a range of activities that demonstrate ADB's commitment to support environmentally sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific---a strategic agenda of ADB's Strategy 2020. The report highlights innovations designed in selected ADB-supported projects with environmental sustainability as a theme that were approved in 2008–2010. It also discusses the emerging environmental challenges in the region, and previews ADB's strategies to strengthen its operational emphasis on the environment, including climate change, that would help realize green growth in Asia and the Pacific.