29
Mar 2008 - On the eve of the Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) Summit in Vientiane, Mr
Nguyen Duc Hai, the Chairman of Quang Nam
Provincial People’s Committee, has taken
a bold and visionary stance for sustainable
dam development in this Vietnam province.
WWF, the global conservation
organization, says this sends a timely and
powerful signal to regional leaders as they
seek to manage the pressing challenges of
rapid infrastructure development and economic
growth in a sustainable way.
“Many hydropower plans
and strategies are made without looking
at the ‘big picture’, and as a result these
projects can have negative impacts on the
environment. The recommendations from the
hydropower assessment for the Vu Gia-Thu
Bon river basin will help us achieve sustainable
hydropower development goals in particular,
and economic development goals in general,”
said Mr Hai.
An exceptional new direction
Quang Nam Province’s new direction is exceptional,
as most plans for dams rarely take environmental
aspects into consideration. With 82 existing
large hydropower dams in the Greater Mekong
Subregion and 179 more at different stages
of planning, Mr Hai’s comments reflect the
pressing challenges that regional leaders
face in balancing economic development,
people’s livelihoods and safeguarding the
region’s prized natural resources and environment.
A World Bank review
of 66 hydropower projects found that on
average, actual costs exceeded project budgets
by more than one fourth, often due to unresolved
social and environmental issues. Considering
that the construction of a large dam usually
exceeds USD 500 million, the budget over-run
for just one project represents an additional
USD 135 million.
Sustainable hydropower:
major savings, reduced risks
“Applying environmental considerations in
hydropower projects can lead to major savings
for governments and developers in the long
run,” says WWF’s Marc Goichot. “This approach
decreases risk and uncertainty. Moreover,
it helps to meet the growing energy needs
of the region while reducing impacts for
nature and people. Governments can lead
the way towards responsible hydropower development
by considering the cumulative impacts and
benefits of these projects in river basins.”
Quang Nam Province is
an area of rich biodiversity that boasts
species such as the critically endangered
saola. Mr Cong, Director of the Quang Nam
Department of Natural Resources and Environment
recognizes that conservation is a key component
of regional growth.
“The People’s Committee
of Quang Nam Province fully supports the
issue of biodiversity conservation and the
recommendation to maintain some rivers intact
from headwaters to sea. This will help develop
nature tourism and promote economic growth
in the long-term,” he stresses.
The climate change connection
With the impacts of climate change increasing
across the region, the natural functions
of rivers are essential to reduce the severity
of natural disasters on people and ecosystems.
Already, rising sea levels are impacting
coastal areas, but rivers are necessary
to protect coastal communities by replenishing
sediment along coasts.
Developers have a key
role in shaping responsible hydropower projects
in Quang Nam. “It is our responsibility
to conform to the recommendations of the
hydropower assessment now that it is endorsed
by the provincial government. In principle,
we will always take the provincial government’s
regulations and policies into serious consideration,”
says Mr Truong Thiet Hung, Director of Song
Bung 4 Hydropower Project Management Board.
“By inviting WWF and
partners to help implement the recommendations
of the hydropower environmental assessment,
the Chairman of Quang Nam is demonstrating
to the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion
that sustainable growth builds on environmental
considerations,” highlights Tran Minh Hien,
Director of WWF Vietnam. “We will work with
partners of the GMS, including governments,
developers and communities towards ensuring
sustainability within the region.”
The connectivity between
GMS countries relies on the integration
of economic development and social and environmental
concerns. As heads of state gather for the
GMS Summit in Vientiane this week, WWF asks
that the governments of the GMS recommit
to a vision of growth where environmental
sustainability is the foundation for development.
Marc Goichot
WWF Greater Mekong Programme
Dekila Chungyalpa
WWF Greater Mekong Programme
Notes to editors:
• Information related to this press release,
including high resolution photographs and
maps, can be downloaded from http://www.panda.org/greatermekong/press/.
• WWF has been active for more than 30 years
in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). In
this part of the world, the organization’s
work focuses on freshwater, forests, species,
oceans & coasts, and making sure that
infrastructure development does not compromise
the area’s environmental integrity. In this
region, WWF focuses its work on priority
Global 200 ecoregions—the richest, rarest,
and most diverse natural habitats in the
world—which include the Mekong River Basin,
the Lower Mekong Dry Forests, and the Greater
Annamites. WWF has worked in Quang Nam Province
since 1995, and has supported the province
in highly valued conservation programmes.
• The province of Quang Nam lies at the
heart of the Central Annamites landscape,
which covers part of Vietnam and Laos. This
forms part of the Greater Annamites, one
of WWF’s Global 200 ecoregions—the richest,
rarest, and most diverse natural habitats
in the world. One of the greatest concentrations
of endemics (species found nowhere else
in the world) are found here in these wet
tropical rainforests, also considered one
of the last living refugia for climate change.
Species include the critically endangered
saola, a deer-like mammal, discovered as
recently as 1992 by a team of scientists
from the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam
and WWF.
• Quang Nam Province has two river basins;
the Vu Gia-Thu Bon river basin occupying
90% and other river basins occupying about
10% of the province. Vu Gia-Thu Bon river
basin is ranked fourth in Vietnam for potential
hydropower generation capacity. The Vu Gia
system flows through the City Province of
Danang, the fourth largest city in Vietnam.
The Thu Bon systems flows through Hoi An,
a prime tourist destination and World Heritage
Site. During the past decade, energy demand
in Vietnam has grown at a rate of 13-15%
annually, and demand is projected to continue
growing at a similar high pace over the
next 10 years.
• The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) comprises
Cambodia, two provinces of the People's
Republic of China, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In 1992, with ADB's assistance, the six
countries entered into a programme of subregional
economic cooperation, designed to enhance
economic relations among the countries.
The programme has contributed to the development
of infrastructure to enable the development
and sharing of resources, and promote the
freer flow of goods and services in the
subregion.
• Biodiversity Conservation Landscapes are
large nature expanses of forests and freshwater
areas—approximately 60,000 km2—that were
identified as vital for ecological functions
and ecotourism. The Biodiversity Conservation
Landscapes represent ecological networks,
with natural and/or semi-natural landscape
elements. These landscapes require management
and maintenance of ecosystem functions in
order to conserve biodiversity and provide
opportunities for the sustainable use of
natural resources.
• The Strategic Environmental Assessment
of the Quang Nam Province Hydropower Plan
for the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River Basin was carried
out by the International Centre for Environmental
Management (ICEM) and commissioned by the
Vietnam Ministry of Environment and Natural
Resources (DONRE), Vietnam Ministry of Industry,
Electricité du Vietnam, and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB).