Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
Multi-million dollar project could spoil historic Hoi An town
The implementation of a series of projects on the beach dunes near Hoi An will create challenges for Hoi An in its path for sustainable development. In March 2008, after getting the nod from the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee, Gami Hoi An JSC started ...
Dispute: sea sediment or industrial dumping?
The Bình Thuận administration has sought to allay concerns over the proposed dumping of 1.5 cubic metres of “materials” into the ocean, saying these are “natural sea sediment”, not industrial waste. However, officials have also acknowledged that the concerns are valid and the Ministry of ...
Thai crane species gains new lease on life
The discovery of two new-born sarus crane chicks in the Huai Chorakhe Mak Non-Hunting area in Buri Ram two months ago has prompted a plan by the Zoological Park Organisation to have the birds de-listed as an extinct species. Instead, they look set to be reclassified ...
Last chance to see: paddling through time on the Mekong
Humility is a rare commodity in the era of the smartphone, selfies and carefully–coiffed digital personas. Gratitude, too, is unusual in the modern world where a sense of entitlement seems all pervasive. Despite most of us being aware enough to acknowledge that all human beings ...
New funding programme to help improve ecosystems in Borikhamxay
The Wildlife Conservation Society Laos Programme will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to protect and conserve the unique and important species, habitats, and ecosystems in Borikhamxay province. An agreement on the Integrated Ecosystem and Wildlife Management Programme Phase 3 was signed ...
Ministry moves to close vine factory

The Environment Ministry has asked Koh Kong provincial governor Bun Leut to stop construction of a factory which will process an indigenous vine and which plans to collect the yellow vine in a protected forest area. According to an official letter sent to Mr. Leut ...
Gov’t mulls Japan-led facility for aquatic research

A committee will be established to look into the construction of a 5-hectare Japan-funded aquatic centre to facilitate the study of more than 600 species of freshwater fish from the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on November 25. “I have ...
Cambodia supports Lao dam: PM

Cambodia will support the Don Sahong hydroelectric dam planned to be built in south Laos less than two kilometers from the Cambodian border, while civil society groups continue to appeal to regional authorities to halt construction on environmental grounds. According to a post on Prime ...
One ministry allows yellow vine, one stops it

While one government ministry gave approval to a Chinese company to collect yellow vine in Koh Kong province, another ministry told the provincial governor on November 24 to halt the construction of processing facilities for the vine, according to letters obtained on November 24. The Ministry ...
Don Sahong dam ‘no problem’, says premier

Just weeks after Laos announced its plans to begin constructing a third mainstream dam in the Lower Mekong River region, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart to signal that the controversial Don Sahong dam will no longer receive opposition ...