Biodiversity
Animals
New ‘stone’ frog discovered in Vietnam
In the rugged limestone hills of northern Vietnam, scientists have discovered a new species of frog that looks like a small piece of rock. Researchers have named it the stone leaf-litter frog or Leptolalax petrops, derived from the Latin words petra, meaning “rock”, and –ops, meaning ...
Dam blamed as dolphins vanish
The last remaining Irrawaddy dolphins have stopped coming to a stretch of the Mekong river in Preah Rumkel commune due to the Don Sahong hydropower dam in nearby Laos, locals have warned. The activists from Stung Treng province say the dam, which is less than ...
Cambodia’s Sambor dam plans causes controversy as public left in the Dark
“If the dam is built, it will be like before, in the time of the Khmer Rouge when we all had to move,” said Plau Saret, 44, of Domrae Village on the Mekong River island of Koh Tnaot, right next to the proposed Sambor Dam ...
DNP set to build DNA database for wildlife
The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department invited the press to its wildlife forensic lab yesterday to demonstrate its accountability and transparency in wildlife forensic investigation in a move to counter the strong opposition of elephant owners. Kanita Ouithavorn, chief of the department’s Wildlife ...
Gov’t gets heat for ivory decision
Cambodia, home to a number of large ivory busts in recent years, has rejected calls to destroy its stockpiles – the preferred method internationally for dealing with the seized contraband – with government officials saying they plan to exhibit it instead. Prime Minister Hun Sen ...
What happens when the soy and palm oil boom ends?
Over the past thirty years demand and production of oils crops like oil palm and soybeans has boomed across the tropics thanks to rising incomes, macroeconomic changes and government policies, and substitution effects. This rapid expansion has in some places taken a heavy toll on ...
Endangered bull killed in park in Central Highlands
A seven-year-old male Bos Gaurus bull, an endangered species listed in Group IB in Việt Nam’s Red Book, was killed in a protected area in Chư Mom Ray National Park last Friday. Đào Xuân Thủy, deputy director of the park’s management board, said the bull, ...
Northern provinces assess efforts to control locust outbreak
Five northern provinces recently reported on their efforts to prevent and control locust outbreaks in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and announced plans to prevent a further invasion this year. The five provinces are Huaphan, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang, Oudomxay and Phongsaly. More than 4,000 hectares ...
Mekong projects must take impact on environment into account
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha may have been wrong when he said his government would clear the waterway for navigation in the Mekong River for the benefit of Thailand, suggesting that nobody should oppose this project. The Mekong runs through six countries in the region and ...
Ecotourism gives impetus to tourism
Some 800,000 foreign tourists last year came to Thailand with the specific purpose of visiting villages, natural sites, communities, and hilltribes across the Kingdom, while more than 2 million Thai tourists also pursued these interests. They mingled well with like-minded travellers who cherished the “ecotourism” ...