Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Unregulated mining across the Mekong region is accelerating at a pace that environmental researchers warn is outstripping governance, enforcement and ecological safeguards.
From Myanmar's jade-rich northern highlands to informal gold pits along Laos and Cambodia's riverbanks, mineral extraction is expanding in some of Southeast Asia's most fragile ecosystems, often beyond the reach of national law and outside public scrutiny.
The trend has drawn growing international concern after a Stimson Center-led policy dialogue webinar held Nov. 24 during which experts examined how illegal or loosely regulated mining is reshaping the region's environment, informal economies and political stability.
Analysts described the rapid expansion as a "silent crisis" -- overshadowed by hydropower and sand extraction debates, but already leaving scars on watersheds that support tens of millions of people downstream.
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