MEKONG WATER DIALOGUES

1. MEKONG WATER DIALOGUES www.iucn.org/asia/mekong_dialogues Robert Mather, World Conservation Congress, Jeju 09 September 2012

2. FISHERIES FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS • Lower Mekong most productive inland fishery in the world – accounts for between 2 to 10% of GDP of each Mekong country • Main source of animal protein for 60 million people, valued at >$3 billion/year at first sale • Large proportion of productivity (40-70%) is based on long-distance migration • 3 migration systems • natural seasonal changes in hydrology are crucial migration triggers

3. Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) ADB-facilitated program for economic development: transportation corridors integrated national markets local economic development foreign investment >305 projects, >$30 billion ASEAN Economic Community

4. Road Development • Habitat fragmentation • Habitat loss • Increased spread of commercial agriculture into remote areas • Improved infrastructure = illegal wildlife & timber trade is increasing

5. Agriculture & Plantations • “cash crops” for China, Thailand, global markets • Vietnam is leading exporter of coffee, pepper, rice, cashew, rubber • Laos – rubber for China, sugar for Thailand • Cambodia – large scale commercial concessions in high value conservation areas

6. Mining • Rapid growth - gold, bauxite … • Gaps in legislation • Priority landscapes affected • Water pollution

7. Threats: Hydropower

8. What we knew when we started…. 13,000 species of freshwater fish in the world – over 1,000 known from this region, but only 76 assessed 5,000 species of freshwater molluscs described by science -no species in this region assessed 6,000 aquatic plant species in the world – only 5 species assessed in this region

9. All/Threatened/data-deficient freshwater species

10. Threats to Rivers, wetlands and freshwater species that undermine food security and local livelihoods Water pollution Over-exploitation Flow modification Habitatdegradation Speciesinvasion

11. UNDERLYING GOVERNANCE ISSUES 1 Inadequate policy and/or law, institutions, and/or processes at national and regional levels Well-intentioned but poorly implemented laws/norms, institutions and processes, often caused by lack of capacity Mandates of different agencies are often unclear and overlapping Planning is done on a sectoral basis with limited cross-sectoral collaboration

12. UNDERLYING GOVERNANCE ISSUES 2 Mechanisms to promote involvement of civil society stakeholders in wetlands and river basin planning and management are lacking (sub-national, national and trans-boundary ) Many rivers and wetlands have no or unclear legal status and are effectively open-access resources Traditional management practices and customary governance mechanisms breaking down because of modern external pressures

13. MEKONG WATER DIALOGUESGoal and Objectives Aims to improve water governance in the Mekong Region as a way to enhance livelihood security as well as human and ecosystem health Seeks to facilitate transparent and inclusive decision-making around water resources Promotes collaboration between government, private sector and civil society

14. GOVERNANCE who has the power to make decisions that affect wetlands and wetland users and how those decisions are made who has the power and responsibility to implement those decisions and how those decisions are implemented who is held accountable, and how, for implementation.

15. GOVERNANCE Components of Governance - Policies - Laws and other norms - Institutions - Processes Qualities of Governance - predictability/rule of law - transparency - participation - accountability who is held accountable, and how, for implementation.

16. Process and Progress in Phase I. National Working Groups Desk study reviews Stakeholder workshops Local and national dialogues Policy reform

17. Main Outputs and Activities September 2008 - August 2010 Dialogues and Workshops Cambodia: Tonle Sap fishing communities workshop and Tonle Sap National Dialogue Laos: workshop on Wetlands and River Basin Orgnaisations Vietnam: water pollution dialogues at commune level Vietnam: Mekong Delta Wetlands Governance workshop Thailand: RBO sharing and exchange Thailand:Tai Baan Research sharing and exchange All countries ground-water issues workshops

18. Main Output and activities September 2008 - August 2010 Knowledge Products (studies, publications) Water Governance Situational Analysis in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam Laos Participatory Irrigation Study Vietnam Craft Village Pollution Study Vietnam Groundwater Study Cambodia Tonle Sap Harmonisation Study Cambodia Phnom Penh Water Utility Study Thailand IWRM lessons learned paper Siphandone: The Mekong Under Threat

19. Main Outputs and Activities September 2008 - August 2010 Policy Outcomes and Impacts Lao PDR : stakeholder input to Decree on RBO Lao PDR: National Water Policy/Strategy Lao PDR: Ramsar Accession and site designation Cambodia: contribution to momentum for government action on Tonle Sap at the highest level Regional: contribution to MRC Basin Development Planning Process, MRC Summit statement by PMs of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, etc.

20. EXPECTED RESULTS FOR PHASE II (September 2010-December 2014) NWGs participate in the management of water resources and use shared knowledge and improved consensus to contribute to decision making at the national and regional level Livelihood concerns of local communities integrated into decision making in river basin organisations, and wetlands through multistakeholder dialogues

21. RESULTS FOR PHASE II (continued) Learning on participatory water governance collated and communicated by the project is used by various stakeholders in policy and practice in the LMR Strategic partnerships and alliances are established at the regional level to promote water governance policies that support livelihood security, human and ecosystem health in the Lower Mekong region

22. Legal and Policy Reform Achievements and ongoing efforts since September 2010 • Stakeholder input in new Water Law (2012) in Viet Nam • Stakeholder input in New Water Law in Lao PDR (ongoing) • Stakeholder input in water related laws in Thailand (ongoing) • Cancellation of commercial fishing lots in Tonle Sap • Designation of new Ramsar sites (Lao 2; Vietnam 3+1; Cambodia 2 under discussion) • Emerging for remaining period: - Peoples Draft of Water Law in Thailand - Wetlands Law in Thailand - Ratification of UN Convention on non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses

23. Institutional and process-related achievements and ongoing work since September 2010 • Establishment of National Ramsar Committee and sub-national teams in Lao PDR • Development of participatory management planning process for Ramsar sites in Lao PDR • Development of participatory monitoring process for Beung Chmmar former fishing concession in Cambodia • Promotion of “Tai Baan” research approach to additional areas of Thailand with government budget support

24. Cross-cutting issues: gender, ethnicity, climate change • Encourage women and ethnic minority groups to participate in National Working Groups • Women-only workshops and ethnic minority workshops on water issues in Thai watersheds and Lao wetlands • Information on project interventions disaggregated by gender • Collaboration with MRC Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (eg study on climate change impacts on wetlands)

25. Conferences and Events

27. Collaboration with Regional and Global Partners • MRC/GIZ/IWMI/IUCN Conference on watershed management • IUCN/Ramsar Secretariat Regional Capacity-building on Ramsar implementation • Mekong2Rio Conference • Leverage of additional financial support for “spin-off” activities • Developing “Great Rivers Partnership” for the Mekong with WWF and TNC • Collaboration with IWMI and the Challenge Programme on Mekong Hydropower movie

28. Thank You