evidence: **please note this is an internal update only. It is not published on panda.org and is hidden from other websites ***WWF has secured 1.7 million Euros over 4 years for a new project aimed at protecting biodiversity, sustainable natural resource use, and ecological functions in three of the most important wetland sites on the lower Mekong – the 50-km Siphandone in southern Lao PDR, the 40-km Ramsar Site between Stung Treng, Cambodia and the Lao PDR border, and the 56-km Central Section between Kratie and Stung Treng, Cambodia. Together these areas contain nearly 150 km of the most intact, biodiverse, and ecologically robust wetlands on the lower Mekong. [...] Key project partners include: Ministry of Agriculture, Forests, and Fisheries (MAFF), Ministry of Environment (MOE), Department of Livestock and Fisheries in Laos (DLF), provincial authorities in Kratie, Stung Treng, and Champassak provinces, and local NGOs. [...] A growing population and increasing development has led to the construction of roads, dams, dikes, and other infrastructure that often disrupts ecological processes and leads to unsustainable exploitation of wetland and forest resources. Some infrastructure development is needed and desirable, but this development should be planned and carefully sited to minimize environmental impacts. The biggest potential threat to the project area comes from proposed hydropower projects at Don Sahong, near the Lao PDR - Cambodia border, and at Stung Treng and Sambor in Cambodia.