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Crain, Ian 
  
DESIGN OF A MULTINATIONAL GIS-BASED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR 
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING IN THE MEKONG REGION 
Ian K Crain 
The Orbis Institute, Ottawa, Canada 
Crain@cyberus.ca 
Working Group 
KEY WORDS: GIS Design, Decision Support, Environmental Information System 
ABSTRACT 
* The Mekong River and its system of tributaries drain a vast fertile basin of fundamental importance to six nations - 
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Peoples Republic of China (especially Yunnan Province). 
These rivers are the arteries of the region, providing a vital source of water for agriculture, industry, drinking and 
transportation. Most of the countries are experiencing rapid development and industrialisation with incumbent social 
disruptions, as well as benefits. It is now recognised that the problems created by these pressures transcend national 
boundaries and can only be solved by cooperative multinational efforts. 
Decision making on environmental measures, particularly those which require cooperation between sovereign nations, 
requires timely, appropriate and systematic environmental information. This information must be collected consistently, 
on a standard or comparable basis, and must be made available to all relevant decision makers in a cooperative 
manner. In recognition of these needs, the Asian Development Bank sponsored a Technical Assistance project which, 
among its objectives, commissioned the design of a multi-national GIS-based information management system to 
provide for a means of exchanging and sharing between the six countries the information essential to good decision 
making on trans-border issues. This paper reports on the design approach, and on the conceptual distributed GIS design 
that resulted. 
1 BACKGROUND 
The Mekong River and its system of tributaries drain a vast fertile basin (Approximately 1.3 Million Km?) of 
fundamental importance to six nations - Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Peoples Republic 
of China (especially Yunnan Province). These rivers are the arteries of the region, providing a vital source of water for 
agriculture, industry, drinking and transportation. The population supported by the basin is very high (perhaps 120 
Million) and land use patterns are very complex. Agriculture includes paddy rice, tropical and sub-tropical fruit, 
plantations, cash crops, field crops and livestock. There is coastal and upland forestry, marine and freshwater fisheries. 
Most of the countries are experiencing rapid development and industrialisation with incumbent social disruptions, as 
well as benefits. (The above mentioned six countries are referred to by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the 
“Greater Mekong Subregion” or “GMS” and this terminology is used throughput this paper.) 
It is now recognised that the problems created by these pressures (deforestation, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, 
flooding, air and water pollution) transcend national boundaries and can only be solved by cooperative multinational 
efforts. One concrete demonstration of this is the recent signing of the Mekong Agreement which calls for signatories to 
cooperate in ensuring the sustainability of the resources in the Mekong Basin. This treaty and other national 
administrative changes reflect a growing awareness of the need to manage the environment of the Basin in a sustainable 
and integrated manner (both geographically and sectorally). Individual counties in the region have established 
environmental monitoring agencies and have enacted environmental legislation and related legal and administrative 
measures for compliance, or economic measures to encourage improved land use practices. 
Decision making on such measures, particularly those which require cooperation between sovereign nations, requires 
timely, appropriate and systematic environmental information. This information must be collected consistently, on a 
standard or comparable basis, and must be made available to all relevant decision makers in a cooperative manner. 
Achieving this requires the use of modern information technology (IT) tools for data gathering, data management, data 
analysis, presentation, and communication. 
  
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000. 287