By Allie Caulfield [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
This article was originally published on Global Environment Facility (GEF).
“The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is a natural economic area bound together by the Mekong River basin that includes parts of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and China. Covering over 1 million square miles, the GMS is home to more than 300 million people, and numerous flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth. 2,500 new species have been discovered since 1997, and 115 in 2016 alone. Mekong translates to ‘Mother of Water’ in the Thai and Lao languages.
Logging, mining, and illegal wildlife trade are all threats to the continuity of the landscape, as well as the unique plant and animal species found there. Conservation International has placed the GMS in its “10 Most Threatened Forest Hotspots” list, and WWF has noted that the area is among those that are most likely to be affected by global climate change.
Created in 1992 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the GMS designation serves as a means of strengthening economic ties between member countries and prioritizing sub-regional projects. It has allowed member countries to work cooperatively, ensuring responsible development across numerous sectors.
In 2013, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) partnered with ADB and the Government of Vietnam to implement a project titled “Integrating Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Resilience and Sustainable Forest Management in Trung Truong Son Landscapes.” The USD $34 million project focused on capacity building and stakeholder collaboration in the Annamite Mountains, which pass through Vietnam, Laos, and part of Cambodia…”
Read on at: Global Environment Facility (GEF).
