The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics— Society—Science Volume 27 Series Editor Hans Günter Brauch, Peace Research and European Security Studies (AFES-PRESS), Mosbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15232 http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS.htm http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/APESS_27.htm# Carl Middleton • Vanessa Lamb Editors Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River Editors Carl Middleton Vanessa Lamb Center of Excellence for Resource School of Geography Politics in Social Development, University of Melbourne Center for Social Development Studies, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand ISSN 2367-4024 ISSN 2367-4032 (electronic) The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science ISBN 978-3-319-77439-8 ISBN 978-3-319-77440-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77440-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019. 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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publi- cation does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Series Editor: PD Dr. Hans Günter Brauch, AFES-PRESS e.V., Mosbach, Germany Editors: Dr. Carl Middleton and Dr. Vanessa Lamb The cover photo is based on a photo by Michael Cook, Melbourne, Australia/Toronto, Canada. The photographer granted permission to use their photos here. More on this book is at: http://www.afes-press- books.de/html/APESS_27.htm#. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword AReflection on the Role of Researchers and Research on the Salween River: Past, Present and Future What we highlight in this edited volume are the ecological, social, cultural and political facets of the Salween River Basin. I say “we” because, as I detail below, I have been involved in supporting the important work of organizing and sharing knowledge about the Salween, also known as Thanlwin in Myanmar, for many years alongside this excellent group of contributors. In this and in previous work, we as scholars and civil society actors have considered the various tools that can be used for research and learning about the Salween River. There are multiple approaches to research the Salween River, and multifaceted systems of governance in this River Basin. This is the time to consider the insights of our research, the tools we use, and the systems operating in the context of development of the river basin, and the region more broadly. It is a time when the world is turning to look at Myanmar and the Salween River as one of the major river systems in the region. At present, there are 20 proposed hydropower projects along the Salween River. These have the potential to transform agrarian livelihoods, fisheries, migration, and to change political and economic relationships of the Salween River Basin. Of these projects, up to seven are proposed in Myanmar or along the Thai–Myanmar border. But, the majority of the electricity produced would not be for domestic consump- tion, which is urgently required, but would be sold to Thailand and China. During the 2016 Salween Studies Network Meeting, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, it became apparent that the Salween River Basin has only recently attracted the attention of international academic researchers. This can be seen, for instance, in the number of academic publications on the Lower Salween River since 2010. This work on the Lower Salween River is related to a greater focus on Myanmar through the economic opening up of country. Yet, while academic research has only begun to emerge, civil society research has been pursued for decades. This includes work by organizations such as KESAN, International v vi Foreword Rivers, Salween Watch, Southeast Asia Rivers Network, Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliances (TERRA), and Mekong Energy and Ecological Network (MEE Net). This research is important to recognize and use alongside academic work to reinforce and improve the quality of research being conducted now. The increased attention to the Salween River Basin would not have been pos- sible without the work that has been done over the past ten years, mainly by civil society groups, to raise awareness on these issues. Indeed, this book would not be possible without the sustained effort and collaborations across academic and civil society researchers. The 2016 Salween Studies Network Meeting, or Salween University Network (SUN), I mentioned above is a good example of one such collaborative effort. The meeting, as evidenced in the title, was focused on moving ‘Towards a Shared Vision for the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu’. A wide variety of active participants from many sectors in the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu River Basin region gave presentations over two days. The meeting was an opportunity to review the research that came out of the 2014 Salween Studies Conference and to discuss what research can be done in the future, including a book like this edited volume. More than fifty participants attended the meeting, including professors, researchers, experts, community supported organizations (CSO) and non-government organization (NGO) representatives, and journalists from a range of countries – not limited to the Salween River Basin countries of Thailand, Myanmar, and China. The 2016 SUN meeting, however, is only one in a long line of conferences and meetings. There are too many to list all here, but some of the additional meetings include, for instance, an October 2012 meeting where there were twelve people – six of whom are also part of this book (Pai Deetes, Dr. Lamb, Prof. Saw Win, Prof. Chayan, Dr. Middleton and Dr. Yu Xiaogang) – who met to discuss the future of the Salween River Basin, supported by International Rivers and Chiang Mai University. Concerns revolved around the mega projects planned for the Upper Salween River and the downstream impacts of these projects as well as logging and mining in the river basin. The year 2014 saw two significant Salween Meetings organized. This was indeed a rare event. The first, held in Myanmar, was the workshop, Socio-economics and Ecosystem Values of the Salween River: Towards Transboundary Management Framework and Research Collaboration Network jointly coordinated by REAM, TERRA, and MEE Net at the Mawlamyine University, Mon State on 2–3 September. About twenty-five presentations were presented by both national and international scholars, researchers, and CSOs during the two-day workshop with special emphasis upon topics, such as: Ecosystems and Socio-economics, Inhabitant People and Resource-Based Livelihoods, Hydropower and River Resources of the Salween River Basin, Upstream Salween River and Sino-Asian Affairs, and Community Research Approach. During the workshop, I presented ‘A Geographical Evaluation on the Natural and Human Resources of the Salween Drainage Basin’. On the final day of the workshop, participants had the Foreword vii opportunity of paying a field visit to some river mouth islands and villages in the Salween Estuarine Region near Mawlamyine City. Later that year, in November 2014, the First International Conference on Salween/Thanlwin/Nu Studies: State of Knowledge: Environmental Change, Livelihoods and Development was hosted by the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, organized by the Salween-Thanlwin-Nu (STN) Studies Group. With support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and RCSD at the Chiang Mai University, the First International Salween Studies Conference was a significant conference for the Salween River Basin region and brought together over two hundred participants, not limited to local communities, NGOs, CSOs, universities, researchers, academics, and youth. The conference highlighted that ‘universities, and others, can work together to conduct academic research and collect information to support the Salween River Basin’. The presentations