Forest cover
Deforestation drivers
Rights report decries Thai sugar firm’s tactics
Asia’s largest sugar producer, Mitr Phol, is responsible for violating the rights of hundreds of villagers in Oddar Meanchey who saw their land grabbed, homes destroyed and livestock killed to make way for plantations, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT). The Thai ...
Vietnam Rubber Group stripped of accreditation
A giant Vietnamese rubber company that has faced repeated accusations of illegal land and forest grabbing in Cambodia has been stripped of its accreditation as a sustainable forestry product supplier by the world’s leading forest certification body. In a damning report, the Forest Stewardship Council claims ...
Lao officials investigate massive increase in illegal logging
A leaked report by an international environmental group revealing huge increases in illegal logging in Laos with an implication of government collusion has prompted officials in the small Southeast Asian nation to take action to examine discrepancies in timber export and import figures with China ...
Leaked WWF report: illegal logging in Laos 'a worst-case scenario'
Forests in Laos are disappearing at a ferocious rate under the impact of rampant illegal logging which accounts for 90% or more of the industry, with lucrative export markets in Vietnam and China. Keep reading ...
Carbon credit schemes, concessions slashed
The Ministry of Environment has cancelled seven carbon credit schemes and reduced the leases of six economic land concessions as part of an ongoing reform effort, according to a 16 October announcement. Keep reading ...
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 ...
Three resorts face encroachment counts in Thai national park
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation will file charges against three resort owners accused of forest land encroachment in Phu Rua district of this province. The resorts reportedly belong to state officials, including a retired senior forest official. Keep reading ...
Forest land-using projects required to plant new trees
Any projects using forest land in the future must include, once put forward for investment approval, a feasible report on the plan to plant new trees and to allocate a specific land fund, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. During an online conference of the ...
Vietnamese arrested in Mondolkiri smuggling timber
Two Vietnamese nationals were arrested in Cambodia’s Mondolkiri province as they attempted to cross the border back into Vietnam on 8 October in a tour bus loaded with high-grade timber, authorities said 11 October. Keep reading ...
Laos faces the unknown as elephants walk from logging into tourism
Walk down any street in Luang Prabang, Laos, and you will be presented with any number of opportunities to interact with elephants. Some are more ethical than others. Indeed, at the Elephant Village, 15 kilometres outside town, the motto is: “Saving elephants is our mission.” Keep reading ...
