Livelihood

Ongoing Problems Faced by Communities Affected by Nam Song and Nam Leuk Dams

Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Oct. 24, 2012 Anthony Jude, Director Energy Division, Southeast Asia Department Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Philippines Re: Nam Song and Nam Leuk Hydropower Projects, Lao PDR Dear Mr. Jude, I am writing to follow up on the implementation of the Nam Song-Nam Leuk Environmental Mitigation Plan and review missions conducted by the ADB. In March 2012, an International Rivers’ consultant conducted a site visit to eight villages affected by the Nam Song Dam and three villages affected by the Nam Leuk Dam to assess the state of the mitigation plans. In light of

Indigenous Peoples Days on the Yuba River

International Rivers has a presence throughout the world, yet we were founded in Berkeley, California, which remains the address of our main office. Berkeley has quite a reputation: hosting the preeminent public university in the US, serving as the flashpoint for a wide array of social, economic and ecological movements in the US, and for going to great lengths to situate itself as an “international” city.

Damming for Development: Lessons from Laos

Friday, June 27, 2008
Opinion piece published by Reuters AlertNet A Lao man, his face and hands hardened by the sun and years of fishing, tends his water buffalo by the Theun River and wonders what his life will be like "after the flood". That's how he referred to the water that has now started rising behind the Nam Theun 2 dam, turning an area more than four times the size of Paris - including the land his family has tilled for generations - into a stagnant reservoir. Will he, and the more than 6,000 others who have been displaced, be better off thanks to the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project, as the Lao government,

Nam Theun 2 Dam: Rising Water, Falling Expectations

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Opinion piece published in Thailand's The Nation A Lao man, his face and hands hardened by the sun after years of fishing and farming, tends his water buffalo by the Theun River and wonders what his life will be like "after the flood". That's how he referred to the water that has now started rising behind the Nam Theun 2 dam in central Laos. Will he, and the thousands of others who have been displaced, be better off thanks to the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project, as the Lao government, the dam developers and the World Bank contend? Or will he and his children face an uncertain future of rice sho

Livelihoods at Risk: The Case of The Mphanda Nkuwa Dam

Wednesday, July 26, 2006
A risk assessment reveals that Mphanda Nkuwa Dam, proposed for the Zambezi River in Mozambique, could leave thousands worse off. The study, by a geographer with expertise in disaster mitigation, reveals how the risks of this large hydro dam would be borne disproportionately by those with the least power to influence how the project is developed. Author James Morrissey states, "Given the current compensation plan, the apparent indicators of political risk and level of local participation, this project represents a developmental initiative which is neither just in terms of the level of r

Strangling the Mekong

Monday, March 19, 2001
Newsweek, March 19, 2001, Atlantic EditionSECTION: ASIA; Pg. 26HEADLINE: Strangling the MekongBYLINE: By Ron Moreau and Richard Ernsberger Jr.; With reporting by Kevin Platt in Beijing HIGHLIGHT: A spate of dam building has stopped up Southeast Asia's mighty river and may threaten the livelihood of millions who live along its banks. Great civilizations have flourished along the banks of the Mekong River. The Cambodian kings who once ruled most of Southeast Asia built their glorious temples near the shores of the Tonle Sap lake, the Mekong's pumping heart. Later the kingdoms of Thailand, Laos a

Independent Technical Review: NT2 Agriculture and Livestock Development Plan

Saturday, January 1, 2005
IRN and Environmental Defense commissioned an independent review of the Nam Theun 2 Social Development Plan's (SDP) program for agricultural and livestock development. This program forms one important component of the livelihood system for the 6,200 people to be displaced by Nam Theun 2. The review found that the program is unsustainable and has a high likelihood of failure. Villagers will need to sell vegetables in exchange for rice, and will need to continually make high levels of inputs into their land. If villagers suffer income reductions because of cold winters, drought, market price red

A Review of the Theun-Hinboun Power Company's Mitigation and Compensation Program

Tuesday, December 19, 2000
In September, 2000 the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) released its Mitigation and Compensation Program (MCP) Report. This briefing paper was commissioned by International Rivers Network in order to provide an update on the situation at Theun-Hinboun and to review and provide some analysis of the THPC's proposed Mitigation and Compensation Program.
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