A Vietnamese journalist’s investigation into illegal sand mining in the Mekong Delta prompted Deputy Prime Minister to issue a letter, ordering authorities to tackle the issue.
Tag: mekong delta
Data Exposes Flaws in Mekong Delta Resilience Plans
Resilience plans focus on exploiting Vietnam’s scarce water resources instead of shifting agriculture away from water-intensive crops and practices. For generations, Vietnamese communities have used the ample water resources and fertile soil of the Mekong Delta to feed the nation. Fueled by the Mekong’s constant supply of rich sediment, the fisheries and paddy fields of Vietnam’s […]
Mekong fishermen struggle to survive
As dawn breaks on the serene lake of Bình Thiên in An Giang Province, fisherman Đặng Hữu Đức instructs his 17-year-old son to cast a net into the clear water of the largest freshwater lake in Việt Nam’s Mekong Delta. To his son’s disappointment, when the net is hauled back it doesn’t contain many fish, unlike during Đức’s […]
As sand mining grows, Asia’s deltas are sinking, water experts warn
The Mekong delta is home to 17 million people, a major source of rice for the region and it underpins a quarter of Vietnam’s GDP – yet most of it is sinking.
In Vietnam and elsewhere, ‘disaster capitalism’ is at play
But now, so many people are getting rich by taking sand from the riverbed, draining underground water, excavating the earth for mining, and cutting down forests for timber, just taking as much as they can.
In Photos: Plastic waste pollutes Mekong basin in Vietnam
Garbage, including dumped plastic products, piles up throughout the Mekong Delta region.
A Damaged Delta
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is one of the world’s most at-risk areas from the effects of climate change, posing challenges both for its environment and population in years to come. Photos credit: Luke Duggleby
Mekong Delta region makes up 18 percent of Vietnam’s GDP
A report shows that demand accounts for nearly 32 percent of the total planned investment of the country in 2019.