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Transboundary Water and Environment Security for Asian International Rivers, Yunnan, Dali City, China
by Tsinghua University and Asia International River Center of Yunnan University
Background
The World Water Day of 1999 drew attention to the conflicts of upstream and downstream communities. A number of major rivers of south-east Asia originate from the Peoples Republic of China and flow through several riparian countries before joining the oceans. Currently, there are no formal intergovernmental bodies for the joint management of these international waters and natural resources between China and downstream riparian countries, except for several cases of informal collaboration.
In recent years there has been a rapid growth of the number of planning, development and research activities related to Asian international rivers, mostly due to the increasing interest for collaboration among sharing countries. In particular, cooperative endeavors in the Mekong region, such as the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS) Program, are attempting to bring stakeholders including the governments, and other interested parties, together, to manage transboundary natural resources better and to achieve common goals. For example, the MRC’s Water Utilization Program (WUP), funded by the World Bank through GEF, Finland, Japan and France, aims to improve water management in the Lower Mekong Basin, foster mutually-beneficial water utilization while maintaining the river’s ecological balance and facilitate technical and research collaboration between downstream and upstream countries.
In spite of the numerous attempts for successful collaboration, still many activities of downstream of Asia’s international rivers are detached from those of the upstream. Critical communication gaps exist in information flow to governments, decision makers, and affected communities, across the political boarders. However, with southeast Asia’s rapid economic growth and social changes, more emphasis is being placed on the water resources and ecological security of the international river basins.
A number of cooperative activities among UNU (United Nations University), AIRC (Asian International Rivers Center of Yunnan University), AIT, UNESCO-IHE, etc. have been conducted to strengthen existing collaboration and research networks and to fill in knowledge gaps and in information exchange among stakeholders.
One form of these activities is to use academic workshops and field study visits, as information exchange and discussion forum, to identify common interest and basis for knowledge sharing, build on shared practical experiences, reach consensus and produce agreed actions to improve regional cooperation in Southeast Asia. As an example, UNU with AIT, AIRC, and universities within and outside the Mekong region, held two workshops in March and June of 2005 at Thailand to discuss the waterenvironment issues of the Mekong river basin. At the workshop in June 2005, participants reached a common understanding to hold a third workshop in Yunnan to finalize a proposal of setting up a research network for addressing Ecological Changes in the Mekong River Basin.
Workshop Objectives, Topics, and Key Issues
The workshop constituted an academic meeting to highlight critical linkages between cooperation in international river basins and environmental security in the broader, regional context. The objective was to provide a forum for the experts who are engaged in or interested in the research related to upstream/downstream issues of major Asian international rivers, particularly in the Mekong region. The plan was to analyze the views expressed in the conference by the participating experts and synthesize them into a proposal for research framework for investigating and coping with the Environment Change in Mekong River Basin with specific emphasis on regional cooperation for water and environment. The topics included:
(1) Seeking reasonable utilization and sustainable conflict resolutions related to transboundary water resources, and transboundary eco-security maintenance
(2) Expanding cooperation between Asia and the rest of the world on international river issues, identifying potential opportunities.
(3) Possibility of a common research agenda for addressing Environment Changes in Mekong River Basin
Based on the above, the following issues were discussed at the workshop:
| MAJOR TOPICS | KEY ISSUES |
|---|---|
| (1) Transboundary water resource and eco-security |
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| (2) Cooperation between Asia and the rest of the World |
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| (3) Environment change in Mekong River Basin |
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Symposium's summary
The "Expanding Transboundary Cooperation for Water and Environment Security in Asia's International Rivers" workshop was a very fruitful and a productive forum for exchange of basin wide experience and opinions. New research, education and training centers will be established gradually and develop from regional to global level in the future. The participants proposed that such workshops and similar opportunities should be promoted and to expand and strengthen the network of researchers and planners providing opportunities for increasing interactions and collaboration among various entities involved in not only Asia's but global international rivers.
