Environmental and biodiversity protection

Srongpol Chantharueang remembers his parents telling him as a boy always to protect the local wetland forest when he grew up. They told him that the ecosystem would be important for his life and that of his community. “I didn’t understand what they meant at ...

The Asian migratory bird census which is usually conducted yearly will be taken in collaboration with local communities in Myanmar this year, said Daw Thiri Daewi Aung, executive director at Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA). “Normally, the migratory bird census is taken in the second ...

The Lao government’s high-risk plan to install a massive dam on the Mekong River, perilously close to the renowned UNESCO World Heritage site of Luang Prabang, shows a disregard for its legal obligations to protect the renowned site, according to conservation experts. Minja Yang, the former ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) says environment and water-resource ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have approved a navigation plan for the four countries and a regional environmental strategy. In a statement, the MRC said the two documents were among several approved during a virtual ...

More people in the Mekong Delta are planting trees and building embankments made of natural materials to prevent erosion along rivers and canals.   The delta, which has a dense river and canal network, has faced increasing erosion along rivers and canals in recent years because of human activity and climate change. In Hau ...

The path to Preak Tachan ranger station, in Botum Sakor national park, Cambodia, snakes through dense, silent forest. It crosses bubbling rivers and clearings where luminous butterflies flit around gargantuan hanging vines and tall wild grasses. It’s The Lost World, Indochina-style. I half expect a ...

Authorities have been doing too little to regrow trees they felled to make way for hydropower projects, experts said. Growing trees is the most effective way to control floods and prevent erosion in downstream areas, Dao Xuan Hoc, chairman of the Vietnam Water Resources Development Association, ...

Earlier this year, Vietnam’s prime minister called for a ban of the wildlife trade in the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several months later, the government released a directive on the wildlife trade. Hailed as a ban in some media coverage, the move fell short of that, ...

The AFC in cooperation with World Wilde Fund for Nature to Laos organized a workshop to promote collaborative management of the Nong Khamsene wetland in Vientiane on Aug 14, 2020. The Nong Khamsene wetland is located about 20 km southwest of Vientiane. It is shared by ...

The forests are rapidly dwindling. But the people living in forest areas need to live off the land. Supporting them to practise sustainable or green farming saves both the forests and the locals’ livelihoods. Why then is this win-win solution only applied to some local ...