A $1.3bn hydro-electric dam project planned in central Laos threatens to inundate the stomping grounds of 120 wild elephants, an environmental group warned on Tuesday.
“If built, the Nam Theun 2 hydro-electric project would result in severe, negative impacts on the endangered Asian elephant population of the Nakai Plateau,” said the  Bangkok-based Terra (Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance).

The World Bank-backed Nam Theun 2 project threatens to flood 450m² of the Nakai Plateau in central Laos, and “degrade” another 500m². However, the World Bank and Nam Theun 2 Power Company have yet to disclose the impact on elephant herds living on the plateau, said Terra’s Premrudee Daoroung.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank will host a “consultation” on the Nam Theun 2 dam in Bangkok on August 31, to be followed by similar discussions in Tokyo, Paris and Washington DC, to drum up support for the controversial project which has its supporters and detractors even among environmentalists.

‘Export revenues desperately needed for Laos’ Some environmentalists have argued that Laos, one of the world’s poorest countries, desperately needs export revenues to be earned from hydro-electricity exports from Nam Theun 2 to raise sufficient funds to halt the rampant illegal logging currently plaguing the Nakai Plateau region and border areas.

Others, such as Terra, argue the dam will involve more ecological damage than it is worth.
According to recent estimates, at least 120 elephants – approximately 10% of the total elephant population in Laos – live on the Nakai Plateau, noted Terra.
The dam’s construction would effectively wipe out the pachyderms’ natural habitat in the area.

“The inundation and degradation of a large part of the Nakai Plateau would eliminate 95% of the wetlands, almost all mineral licks and large areas of forests and grasslands that are essential habitat for the Nakai elephants,” Terra said. – Sapa-dpa