Opinion: Mekong River dam threatens livelihoods and ecosystems
Story highlights    • Cambodian government intends to build new
hydroelectric dam   • Conservation International believe current
plan needs more consideration   • Livelihoods and rare wildlife
could be irreparably harmed by new project   • 3-S river basin
supports 1.1 million people  Last month the Cambodian government
announced their plans to build a dam on one of the Mekong
River's most important tributaries, the 3-S River Basin, in
2014. This was declared just five days before the government of
Laos held their ceremony to launch the construction of the
controversial Xayaburi dam, the first dam to be built on the
lower Mekong River.  Conservation International along with other
conservation groups working in the region are extremely
concerned by this move and have requested a delay on this
decision to allow time for research to better understand the
trade-offs between power generation and the dam's impacts, and
the opportunity to offer sustainab