Lancang-Mekong countries push for joint ecosystem protection

The Lancang-Mekong River connects six countries through a shared ecosystem that stretches from its headwaters in China's Qinghai province to the Mekong Delta.

As the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism enters its second decade, the six LMC countries are calling for closer regional coordination to protect the basin, address climate change and pursue green development.

Guests offer insights at the Source Ecological Dialogue during the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation River-Source Dialogue in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai province, Aug. 29, 2026. [Photo by Xu Xiaoxuan/China.org.cn]

At the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation River-Source Dialogue held in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai province, on Aug. 28-29, representatives from China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam exchanged views on environmental protection and explored ways to strengthen joint responses to ecological and climate challenges.

The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, originates in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province and flows through the six countries, leaving their ecosystems closely interconnected and underscoring the need for coordinated action across the basin.

Thiv Sophearith, deputy director general of the General Directorate of Environmental Protection at Cambodia's Ministry of Environment, called for moving beyond isolated conservation projects toward managing the Lancang-Mekong as a single, interconnected ecosystem.

Such an approach should cover the entire ecological continuum, "from the headwaters and forests to tributaries, wetlands, floodplains and flood forests, all the way to the Mekong Delta," he said.

Climate change is another challenge that calls for stronger regional cooperation.

Khamhou Tounalom, director of the Environmental and Haze Center under the Biotechnology and Ecology Institute of Laos' Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said Laos faces multiple constraints in protecting the basin's ecological environment, including limitations in technology, funding and implementation capacity.

He called for greater regional cooperation, technology transfer and financial support among the Lancang-Mekong countries to strengthen the basin's capacity to respond to climate change.

A view of the natural landscape in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture of China's Qinghai province, Aug. 26, 2026. [Photo by Xu Xiaoxuan/China.org.cn]

While Laos highlighted the need for greater regional capacity building, Myanmar focused on translating existing regional frameworks into concrete action.

Thaw Thaw Han, director of the Environmental Conservation Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation in Myanmar, said countries should step up efforts to implement the priority areas outlined in the Framework of Lancang-Mekong Environmental Cooperation Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2027). These include ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation, climate change response and adaptation, and environmental quality improvement.

She also called for cooperation in green agriculture, as well as the sharing of water-quality monitoring infrastructure and technologies.

For Thailand's representative, differences among the six countries should not become barriers to environmental cooperation.

Narumon Oris, director of the ASEAN and Regional Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs under Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said differences in capacity, legal frameworks, policies, priorities and budgets remain significant challenges.

However, such differences can also provide opportunities for mutual learning and capacity building, she said.

The countries can exchange technologies, data and good practices based on their respective experiences and strengths in areas including environmental monitoring, biodiversity conservation, pollution control and ecological restoration, Narumon said.

China sees innovation as an important driver of basin-wide green development.

Fu Jie, director of the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Lancang-Mekong Environmental Cooperation Center, called for greater use of innovative tools such as artificial intelligence and green finance in environmental governance.

She also said China actively supports the other five countries in applying for funding from the Kunming Biodiversity Fund, which could help integrate biodiversity conservation with ecological restoration, green industrial development and improvements in local livelihoods.

Such efforts can create a positive cycle of "conservation-development-reconservation," Fu said.