Independent Technical Review: NT2 Impacts on Xe Bang Fai Fisheries

By: 
David J.H. Blake
Date: 
Saturday, January 1, 2005

IRN and Environmental Defense commissioned an independent review of the NT2 Environmental Assessment and Management Plan's (EAMP) predictions of fisheries impacts in the Xe Bang Fai river. The review concludes that NT2 is likely to have multiple serious, negative impacts on the aquatic resources of the Xe Bang Fai, Nam Phit and other downstream river basins.

The probable result will be, as predicted in the project’s Social Development Plan, a "collapse in the aquatic food chain" from the Nam Phit down to the Mekong confluence. Despite these dire predictions, the EAMP – the document which should contain a full assessment of the project’s likely impacts on downstream aquatic resources – is noticably lacking in detail and rigorous scientific analysis.