Watershed Management

　　　Due to a multitude of reasons,the forest, wetland, and coastal ecosystems are continuously being degraded and impoverished in the Lower Mekong Basin.

　　Cambodia still probably has the most diversified and preserved forest/wetland ecosystems in the Basin. The forests are threatened by logging. The Tonle Sap River with its Great Lake represent the largest freshwater ecosystem in the region with, among others, a diversified stock of riverine fishery, now threatened by increased siltation rates.

　　Lao PDR is one of the richest countries in the region in terms of bio-diversity, rather due to a large relatively intact area of forest resources than taxonomic diversity. Many areas are under serious threat due to hydropower development schemes, logging, wildlife trade, local fuel wood and charcoal production, etc.

　　In contrast, bio-diversity degradation in Thailand has already proceeded to a stage where only limited areas of species richness exist within the Lower Mekong Basin. The country is now a net purchaser of ecosystem services and goods from neighbouring countries with relatively more plentiful forest resources.

　　The Mekong Delta in Vietnam is fully affected by human impacts (conversion of mangrove forests to shrimp farms and wet rice cultivation, drainage works, etc.). The transboundary ecosystem, Plain of Reeds, between Cambodia and Vietnam is an important seasonally flooded area with a rich flora and fauna composition.

　　The transboundary effects of escalating asymmetry between riparian countries in forest ecosystem functions have been poorly addressed in basin-wide policies