On December 8, 2021, a Meeting on Water Resources Conservation and Green Development was successfully held in Wuhan, China. More than 60 government officials, researchers and invited experts from six member countries and international organizations attended the meeting.

The Meeting, as a sub-forum of the 2nd Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Forum, was co-organized by the Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute of Changjiang Water Resources Commission, Ministry of Water Resources of China ( CRSRI ) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Myanmar.

As one of a series of activities to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the launch of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, the meeting aimed at sharing the achievements and experience in water resources conservation and green development, discussing related challenges and response efforts,  exchanging international cooperation experience, and building a consensus on water resources conservation and utilization in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin.

Vice President of CRSRI, Mr. Tang Wenjian introduced the cooperation between his institute and the Mekong countries in the field of water resources conservation and green development and expressed his willingness to continue to give full play to its advantages in technology and talents, make use of its rich experiences gained in the governance of the Yangtze River, and jointly carry out practical cooperation with the Mekong countries in water resources conservation, so as to jointly promote the sustainable development of water resources in the Lancang-Mekong countries.

“Water resources are important natural resources for the development of all countries. However the basin is currently facing water problems such as floods, droughts and water pollution. It is necessary to solve the problems, ensure water security and realize green development through the joint efforts of countries involved,” said Win Hlaing, Head of the Joint Working Group on Water Resources from Myanmar at the opening ceremony. He called on all member countries to fully share their knowledge and experience in water resources management, so as to solve the water problems in the Lancang-Mekong countries.

Representatives from the six Lancang-Mekong countries made presentations respectively, such as “Water Resources Protection and Practice in Erhai Lake”, “Water Resources Management in Lao PDR”, “Low-Cost Water Quality Monitoring System for the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar Using a Participatory Approach”, “Climate Change and Watershed Management in Myanmar”, “Land, Water and Forest. Resources Management for Sustainable Community Development”, “An Aspect on Water Resources Management in the Vietnam Mekong Delta: Water Stress Mapping” and etc.

Dr. Chen Jin, CRSRI’s senior expert shared the successful experience of China in water resources conservation and green development with typical cases of Erhai Lake in China. He hoped to continuously promote cooperation among the Lancang-Mekong countries on water resources, jointly cope with the risks and challenges brought by climate change, guarantee water security, regional water resources conservation and sustainable development, and to push the cooperation to a higher level.

Dr. Zhang Cheng, China Program Director of Conservation International (CI), comprehensively introduced the concept, core objectives, framework of freshwater health index and its application in the 3S basin of Mekong countries such as Laos with the report titled FHI: A Tool for Freshwater Health Assessment.

Dr. Ridhi Saluja, a wetlands ecosystem management specialist with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), shared the core concept of water resources management beyond boundaries and its contribution to water and wetland management in Songkhram River Basin with the report titled Managing Water Beyond Boundaries in Mekong Basin and put forward suggestions and ways to apply the simulation results of this model to the framework of water management.

Group photo of offline participants

Group photo of online participants

Opening remarks by Tang Wenjian, vice president of CRSRI