The Government of Lao is facing significant challenges in addressing issues related to the rapidly growing mining sector. Capacity building in environmental management is critical to the future sustainable development of Lao PDR natural resources. In response to this need, Hatfield has initiated the Improved Environmental Monitoring and Assessment for the Mining Industry (IEMAT) project with funding provided by the Canadian International Development Agency’s Industrial Cooperation Branch (CIDA-INC).
The IEMAT project has been designed to assist the Government of Lao to improve:
- Independent or third party environmental monitoring environmental data analysis, impact assessment, and environmental reporting.
- Collection and provision of environmental baseline information (water quality, sediment and fish) for long-term third party monitoring, and assessment of environmental effects related to hazardous chemicals in the mining sector.
- Develop remote sensing, GIS and Internet Technologies (IT) to assist with monitoring of critical environments under threat in the country.
- Develop a “Pilot Environmental Monitoring Web Portal”, to help disseminate environmental information and raise awareness about new environmental monitoring approaches and technologies.
The Government of Lao partner for the IEMAT project is the Science, Technology, and Environment Agency (STEA) in close collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM).
