Donor: USAID | Duration: 2011-2013 | Location: Mekong Region – Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Lao PDRAbout: The Mekong  River Basin faces a grave threat from climate change. Communities and  governments must work together to develop and promulgate adaptation strategies  that preserve the lives and livelihoods of some 60 million people. ICEM is working with DAI and SEA START as part of the U.S. Agency for International  Development (USAID)-funded Mekong  Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC)  project to generate new  data, new approaches and to spur adaptive change in the Mekong River Basin.

The ARCC project is identifying the environmental, economic,  and social effects of climate change in the Lower Mekong Basin. This will assist  highly exposed and vulnerable rural populations in ecologically sensitive areas  to increase their ability to cope with climate change impacts on the water  resources, agricultural systems, biodiversity, ecosystems, and livelihood  opportunities upon which they depend to sustain them.

ICEM is responsible for conducting the climate change impact  and adaptation study to assess the vulnerabilities to climate change of  agricultural cropping regimes, livestock and animal husbandry systems,  fisheries and aquaculture, and ecosystems and biodiversity at a basin-wide  scale; identify adaptation options for the most vulnerable agro-ecological  zones; and draw conclusions to inform pilot site selection and adaptation  strategies.

The study developed  a “map” of the basin showing potential  climate change impacts on key agricultural, aquatic, and other natural systems  and sectors, under various development scenarios and their implications for ecosystem  integrity, livelihoods, and development.

The Mekong ARCC Climate Study Team has now completed its final revision of this Study by addressing comments raised at the March Final Results Workshop in Bangkok, generated during the period of open public review, and from experts who formally peer reviewed technical aspects of the analysis.

The Mekong ARCC Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study Report Series is available for viewing and download from ICEM’s resources library:
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• Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study: Full Report
• Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Study: Summary
• Agriculture Sector Vulnerability Report
• Fisheries Sector Vulnerability Report
• Livestock Sector Vulnerability Report
• Protected Areas Vulnerability Report
• Socio-economic Sector Vulnerability Report
• Non Timber Forest Products and Crop Wild Relatives Vulnerability Report
• Priority Province Summaries

> Visit the Mekong ARCC website

> View Mekong ARCC photos on Flickr

> View Mekong ARCC presentations on the ICEM Presentations page and ICEM’s SlideShare

> View Mekong ARCC Adaptation Planning in the Lower Mekong Basin research article