Forest cover

Deforestation drivers

Gov’t warns of lawsuit over new illegal logging report

Environment and agriculture ministry officials 26 August warned the authors of a new report accusing the government of colluding with timber magnate Try Pheap to illegally log the protected forests of northeastern Cambodia that they could be sued unless they made changes to the text. Keep reading   ...

Lao loggers backed by corrupt officials pillaged Champassak forests in July

Illegal logging in southern Laos’ Champassak province was particularly devastating on forests in July, according to a local police officer, who said businessmen working in tandem with high-ranking officials raced to cut timber in the region ahead of the start of the rainy season. The police ...

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) issue warning on Mekong’s biodiversity

Scientists say the Southeast Asia’s rapid development is driving deforestation in the vital Mekong Subregion, and threatening scores of species in one of the world’s most bio-diverse ecosystems. Trafficking in plant and animal wildlife is accelerating the trend, and governments are being pressed to do ...

Myanmar Government trumpets pledges from China

Amid accusations that it caved in to Chinese pressure, the government has been at pains to show that its release in a presidential amnesty last week of 153 Chinese illegal loggers was accompanied by a number of pledges it has managed to extract from Beijing. The ...

Economic land concessions tied to destruction of forests in new report

Cambodia’s most crucial forests are disappearing at a rate of more than 2,000 kilometres a year, as agricultural firms continue to harvest timber by illegal means in protected areas and national parks, according to a study from Washington-based Forest Trends. The report uses satellite imagery to ...

China responds angrily to life sentences for illegal loggers

Beijing hit out at long jail sentences handed to more than 150 Chinese nationals for illegal logging in Myanmar, in the latest tremor to shake relations between the neighbours. The mass sentencing, which has sparked outraged editorials in Chinese state-run media, comes after the loggers were ...

Burma sentences Chinese nationals to life for illegal logging

  China has lodged a diplomatic protest with Myanmar after a court in the southeast Asian nation sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life imprisonment for illegal logging. China’s voracious demand for Myanmar’s raw materials has fuelled resentment in Myanmar towards its giant northern neighbor. Regions along Myanmar’s porous border with China have ...

18,000 trees to be felled for new tourist road through Vietnam mangrove forest

Ho Chi Minh City has approved a plan to build a new road through Can Gio Mangrove Forest, a biosphere reserve recognized by UNESCO, in a bid to attract more tourists.  The road will be 17 meters wide and run 3.5 kilometers, which means 18,600 trees ...

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