Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
Where Have All the Mekong River’s Fish Gone?
The Mekong was once a river teeming with fish, providing food security for millions of poor farmers as well urban centers. These days, that river of abundance has disappeared, replaced by forlorn fishers who say they’re lucky if they can secure a catch at all, ...
Tom Fawthrop
Iguana import ban: Thailand takes action to curb environmental threat
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has brought into effect an iguana import ban amid fears of rapid proliferation and potential environmental damage. The invasive species, discovered in vast numbers in natural habitats in the Lopburi province, have been causing distress to local communities by feeding on agricultural produce. The green iguana ...
Nattapong Westwood
PM addresses Mekong Delta's environment crisis
The Mekong Delta is seeing land subsidence faster than the sea level rise and is at risk of sinking, PM Pham Minh Chinh said as he visited the region on Saturday. The rate of land subsidence in the delta, the nation’s agriculture hub, is 3-4 times ...
An Binh, Ngoc Tai
Ancient alligator species identified in Thailand
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown alligator species with a distinct skull structure that thrived in ancient Thailand about 230,000 years ago, offering additional insights into the evolutionary history of Asian alligators, according to a new study. The creature in question shares a close evolutionary relationship ...
Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA
Cooperation with China crucial to protect rare Mekong River dolphins in Cambodia: official
PHNOM PENH, July 15 (Xinhua) — The ongoing cooperation with China is essential to help protect critically endangered Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia, a senior official said on Thursday. Phay Somany, deputy director of the Fisheries Conservation Department at the Fisheries Administration of Cambodia’s Ministry ...
huaxia
License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms
KOH KONG, Cambodia — “I think there’s a 30% chance we’ll have trouble with the police,” said Ly Chandaravuth, an environmental activist with the outlawed group Mother Nature Cambodia. This was in August 2022, when Mother Nature Cambodia was planning a trip to Koh Kong Krao, ...
Gerald Flynn
As Laos develops, can it make space for wild elephants?
Mae Sengchan and Mae Kham meandered down the banks of the Mekong River in Laos, munching on bunches of bananas and piles of sugarcane. In their mid-to-late-fifties, the rescued pair of endangered Asian elephants are far past their logging days. The two are now in the ...
BEATRICE SIVIERO and ANTON L. DELGADO
Hundreds of newly discovered species under threat in Southeast Asia’s Mekong region
Nearly 400 species only just discovered in Asia’s Greater Mekong region could soon become extinct due to loss of habitat caused by human activity, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned in a report published Monday. The discoveries – including an orchid that looks like a “Muppet ...
Kathleen Magramo
SE Asia’s COVID legacy is less wildlife trade, but more hunting, study finds
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began spreading in a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, China, shone a spotlight on zoonotic diseases and the risks that markets selling wild meat can pose to human health. Following the outbreak, some countries like China temporarily closed down wet markets, while ...
Spoorthy Raman
Perspective | Giant Catch in the Mekong Reveals Mysteries of Biodiversity Hot Spot
The Mekong River, the longest waterway in Southeast Asia, is often called the world’s most productive river because it holds a greater abundance of freshwater fish than any other river basin on the planet. From an ecological standpoint, there is one stretch of the river, in ...
Stefan Lovgren, special to Circle of Blue
