Mekong - U.S. Partnership
USAID Mekong ARCC Assesses Livelihoods and Adaptation Needs in Mekong Delta Commune
The USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change partner, the Asian Management and Development Institute, has conducted a detailed livelihoods assessment in Thuan Hoa commune in Kien Giang province, Vietnam. The assessment evaluates how existing and potential livelihoods are impacted by climate change and helps identify opportunities to improve local incomes. The work also…
USAID/RDMA Signs Agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency to Strengthen Environmental Impact Assessments in Lower Mekong
USAID/RDMA recently finalized a four-year inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as part of a Lower Mekong Initiative deliverable announced by Hillary Clinton and the USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment. Under the agreement, USAID, USEPA and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) partner to promote regional integration by strengthening environmental and social…
USAID M-BRACE Showcases Intervention Projects in Phuket
Provincial officials, city leaders, community members and representatives from a range of stakeholder groups met in Patong, Thailand, last week to learn about intervention projects being conducted in Phuket and to discuss how the outcomes and lessons learned in these projects can help the province better address key challenges related to development, urbanization and climate…
Gender Champions Gain Competencies to Address Strategic Gender Issues in Climate Change
“Men can be true advocates for women’s leadership and this Leadership Program that empowers both men and women for transformative gender relations is a need for this time, both for our work and our lives,” said Dr. Kinnalone Phommasack, Deputy Director of the Laos Department of Forestry at the Equality in Climate Change at the…
Journalists Learn to Use Environmental Impact Assessments in Reporting at the Mekong Partnership for the Environment Workshop
Sifting through a mountain of government technical documents can be daunting to a journalist, but those who participated in “Mekong Matters: Reporting on Development Projects Using Environmental Impact Assessments” now think differently. The USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment project held the workshop in Chiang Mai from September 15 to 19 to train Mekong-region journalists…
USAID LEAD Trains Asian Policymakers on Low Emission Development Strategies
The USAID Low Emissions Asian Development program, in partnership with the Asian Greenhouse Gas Management Center and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, held a course from September 24 to 26 in Bangkok on the fundamentals and benefits of low emission development strategies (LEDS).Participants included a group of 20 policymakers and practitioners…
Banners at Rural Southeast Asian Borders Warn Against Wildlife Trafficking
Large banners warning against wildlife trafficking were recently placed at rural border crossings in Vietnam and Laos, displaying warnings to potential traffickers written in both Laotian and Vietnamese. The rural border crossings between the two countries are not secured and transnational smuggling of illicit goods, including wildlife trafficking, occurs regularly. As the trafficking of timber, primates and…
Lao and Vietnamese Officials Exchange Information on REDD+ Study Tour
In a step forward for cross-border and regional collaborative efforts on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+),10 officials from Laos visited Hanoi and Vietnam’s Lam Dong Province the week of September 8 to learn and exchange information on the province’s Provincial REDD+ Action Plan. USAID's Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests (LEAF) program has…
ARREST Program Launches New Mobile App to Help Combat Illegal Wildlife Trade in Asia
This week the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network, USAID and Freeland launched WildScan, a new mobile application that identifies endangered species. It is designed to help law enforcement officials combat wildlife trafficking, an illicit trade estimated at $19 billion per year and run by organized criminal syndicates.WildScan contains photos and important information for…
Lao Cai Climate Action Plan Approved by People’s Provincial Committee
A Climate Action Plan for the city of Lao Cai has been approved by the People’s Provincial Committee and was formally announced on September 9. The Action Plan outlines eleven key actions that will help the city address challenges stemming from urbanization and build resilience to climate change. These actions range from ones targeting agents…
Regional Learning Group Explores Social Equity Issues of the Lower Mekong Forest
USAID’s Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong (GREEN Mekong) and RECOFTC (The Center for People and Forests) organized the 2nd Regional Learning Group on Equitable Forest Governance from September 9 to 12 in Hue, Vietnam for 20 local government officials in the forestry sector from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.Together the participants explored…
Mekong ARCC’s Lower Mekong Climate Change Study and GIS Data Available
The USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (USAID Mekong ARCC) program, in coordination with the Greater Mekong Sub-region Environment Operations Center of the Asian Development Bank, has made available a large collection of Geographic Information System (GIS) data generated through the USAID Mekong ARCC Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study for the Lower Mekong…
