External report

Plantations, Hydropower, Ecological Change and Community Transformation in Hinboun District, Lao PDRFrom 2004-2006 Keith Barney was in Laos to investigate the effects of industrial tree plantations upon rural livelihoods. In cooperation with the National University of Laos and provincial forestry authorities, Mr. Barney selected a rural village in Hinboun District as his primary field site. This village, Ban Pak Veng, is located within a plantation concession zone awarded to BGA-Oji Laos Plantation Forestry Ltd. (LPFL). After some time in the village, Barney learned that the plantation project

In July 2006, the World Bank's Inspection Panel issued their final investigation report of the National Drainage Program project. The NDP project was launched in 1997 and is partly World Bank-funded. It consists of a combination of infrastructure investment, institutional reform, research and sector planning. The aim of the project was to address waterlogging and salinity in the Indus Basin. People from Southern Sindh, affected by the Indus drainage system, the Left Bank Outfall Drain and the NDP project, contacted the Inspection Panel in 2004 with an Inspection Panel request. The Request

The future of the controversial Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric dam in Laos is increasingly uncertain after its sole customer, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), announced that it is no longer interested in buying power from the project.The announcement has the consortium of companies backing the project under growing pressure to find economic justification for the dam. Nam Theun 2's developers and the Lao government say the dam's power output will be sold to Thailand, as Laos has no need for such large amounts of power at this time. The project is intended to be fin

"Chances are you won't pick up a hydro-related publication these days that doesn't feature news of hydroelectric developments in Vietnam," a major hydropower-industry magazine recently exclaimed. Vietnam's booming economy has left it facing major power shortages that it plans to address in part through a massive hydropower development program, including within the Sesan and Srepok River basins. Both rivers originate in Vietnam's central highlands, and flow into Northeast Cambodia.If Vietnam's record so far is any indication, downstream Cambodian communities have much to fear in their neighbor'

The inland fishery resources of Cambodia, originating mainly from the Tonle Sap Lake, rank first in the world for their productivity and fourth for their total catch. The floodplains' contribution to income, employment, and food security is higher than in any other country. However, the natural productivity of the Tonle Sap's floodplains will be threatened if the flood pulse, the temporarily submerged habitats, and the fish migration routes of the Tonle Sap Lake are not given attention. In relation to this, the influence of built structures, which modify the hydrology of the system, ne

The Salween River - Southeast Asia's longest undammed river - supports a wealth of biological and cultural diversity. Its rich natural resources support up to 10 million people from its headwaters in China to its estuary in Mon State, Burma. But its days as a productive natural lifeline may be numbered in Burma, where the repressive military dictatorship is conspiring with the Thai government, Thai investors and Chinese dam builders to build a series of large dams in civil war zones in Burma. The dam cascade, secretly negotiated over the past decade, will be built in an area where peoples

Executive Summary Despite the enormous geothermal potential in Uganda, harnessing of this resource potential has for some been an issue of contention in the country. The major reasons that have hindered the development of the resource have mainly been the cost of geothermal development in relation to the cost of large hydropower, the lack of political will on the side of government and to some extent the environmental concerns related to the development of resource. Government of Uganda has for some time expressed interest of developing this resource potential although, for several decades thi

An analysis of the Nam Theun 2 Concession Agreement prepared by Özgür Can and Sheldon Leader, Human Rights Centre, Essex University for Mekong Watch.

In March 2004, the Theun-Hinboun Power Company conducted a Third-Party Review of its Mitigation and Compensation Program. The review team spent a month visiting villages affected by the project and analyzing the attempts by the company to compensate for project impacts. The review team found that while the company had made "good progress", there were serious concerns over the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of its program to restore affected people's livelihoods.

Report by Phetsavanh Sayboualaven describing the ongoing resettlement failures of the Houay Ho Dam project.