Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
Mekong locals seek a voice on Don Sahong
More than 6,400 residents of Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia have signed and thumb-printed a statement on the Don Sahong Dam project, airing concerns ranging from the river’s diminishing fish stocks to the lack of transparency of the Mekong River Commission. The statement, presented last week at ...
Elephant Caravan in Laos sparks conservation debate
For centuries Laos has been known as the Land of a Million Elephants. Now there are fewer than 900 of the iconic creatures – and less than half of those are wild. If the population continues to decline at the current rate, elephants will be ...
Thousands sign petition against Mekong dam construction
Huynh Thi Kim Duyen said her community in Ca Mau Province has seen a significant decline in fish stocks and water levels in the Mekong River in the past decade. Duyen is among thousands of people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand who have signed off on ...
Mekong dams 'a grave threat to river'
Experts are warning that the Lower Mekong Basin may soon face depleting fish stocks, further erosion of the coastline and rising salinity that will make rice fields uncultivable. The facts are stronger than ever,” said Marc Goichot, an expert on sustainable hydropower and river basin management, ...
Thai Government to roll out decree in IUU fight
The Thai government will roll out an executive decree and other measures next week to deal with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Speaking after chairing a meeting 29 October on the problem, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said a committee set up to tackle IUU ...
ASEAN environment meeting opens in Hanoi, looks to green community
Vietnam is hosting the 13th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME-13), which kicked off in Hanoi on 25 October, focusing on creating a green and clean ASEAN community. The AMME-13 and other related meetings, which will last until 30 October, are of significant importance as ...
Ministry puts brakes on Pailin dump plans
Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment has called on local authorities in Pailin province to find a new location for a 34-hectare dumpsite currently planned for a protected forest. Environment Minister Say Sam Al, who led a team to inspect the site on 3 October, wrote to Pailin Governor ...
Mekong dams will wipe out fisheries, study says
Preliminary findings from a soon-to-be released report have reinforced dismal projections for the future of Cambodia’s fisheries if 11 planned mainstream hydropower dams are built on the Mekong River. Presented on 21 October at the Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy in Phnom Penh, the ...
Vietnam tightens control over projects that need massive forest clearance
Vietnam will stop granting licenses to public and commercial projects that take over forest land but do not have a feasible plan to plant new trees, an official said. Keep reading ...
Elephant poachers arrested in Ngapudaw, Myanmar
Two members of an elephant-poaching gang have been arrested in Ngapudaw township in Ayeyarwady Region’s Pathein district, but at least one other person associated with the group remains at large, the Department of Forestry said in a statement released on 13 October. Keep reading ...
