| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (26 min. 20 sec.) ; 159382011 bytes |
| Summary |
Giant catfish the size of family refrigerators hide in the depths with 1200 other species of exotic wildlife. Further downstream are rare and mysterious freshwater dolphins. Communities frame their lives around what the river provides: food, jobs, transport - or if you're a bunch of laughing children - a skylarking dip in the backyard splash pool.By the time the Amazon of Asia - the mighty Mekong River - reaches Laos it's already been put to serious use by the Chinese and now the little landlocked communist nation wants to do the same, big-time. It's planning to plug in for its part in Asia's economic boom by building dozens of dams on the Mekong and its tributaries. They'd drive hydro power stations making electricity for export and that would transform a struggling minnow into The Battery of Asia.But can the Mekong sustain the scale of the development underway and on the drawing board?There are arguments and imagery familiar to us via the Murray/Darling debate. How does a nation aiming to exploit its natural resources sustainably with climate change simmering in the background? What will these dams do to the life in, on, and around the Mekong and what is the impact for nations like Thailand and Vietnam further downstream that also depend on the Mekong? South East Asia Correspondent Zoe Daniel takes a slow boat or three down Laos' stretch of the meandering Mekong on a stunning journey of discovery. A magnificent wild watercourse that has sustained people for eons, that's rich in spiritual history but that's feeling the pressure of development. Will the mighty Mekong be overwhelmed? |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-10-05 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Dams -- Design and construction.
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Dams -- Planning.
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Economic development.
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Hydroelectric power plants.
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International trade -- Economic aspects.
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Laos.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Bird, Jeremy, contributor
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Chapman, Stu, contributor
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Corcoran, Mark, host
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Daniel, Zoe, reporter
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Duthy, Stephen, contributor
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Glendinning, Aiden, contributor
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Hirsch, Philip, contributor
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Phomsoupha, Xaypaseuth, contributor
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Simmalavong, Somphone, contributor
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