Protected areas
National parks and wildlife sanctuaries
Heritage site or home? Indigenous Thais fight for right to forest
Hundreds of indigenous Karen people in Thailand face evictions from a national park that authorities wish to turn into a World Heritage Site, joining millions in a similarly precarious situation as authorities worldwide push tough conservation laws. The Kaeng Krachan is Thailand’s biggest national park, sprawled ...
A new method to help track the Mekong’s rare wildlife
Scientists are rapidly developing new DNA-methods to identify what kind of life is present in rivers, lakes and the ocean. Advocates of the method claim that it has the potential to revolutionise the way environmental monitoring is done. Keep reading ...
Asia’s Environmental Apocalypse 2019?
This year’s environmental news kicked off in grisly fashion: a Vietnamese poaching gang recording one of its members straddling and punching a snared and presumably dead tiger (the Thai authorities say they have caught the perpetrators) in one of Thailand’s protected areas. Thailand has always seemed, to ...
Current threats and future hopes for the greater Mekong’s mangroves
Critical to the health of rivers, shorelines and forests globally, today only 150,000 square kilometers (57,900 square miles) of mangroves remain, down from 320,000 square kilometers (123,550 square miles) 50 years ago. Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar are home to the largest mangrove forests in the Greater ...
Small Voices, Real Actions of People in Forests
Similar to other ethnic groups, people of Hmong at Ban Pang Kob living in the buffer zone of Doi Phu Kha National Park and Khun Nan National Park are entirely dependent on the forests. Their livelihoods and food security from surrounding forests are now facing ...
SPECIAL REPORT: Blood-hued Phayung almost gone as corrupt officials pave way for logging
BY KAENG E-KHIEW Waterfall in northeastern Buntrik-Yod Mon Wildlife Sanctuary a mature male elephant lay dead, with traces of a highly volatile bullet left in its mouth and its bud. Another AK47 bullet was found buried in its ribs. A check of camera traps installed one ...
PIYAPORN WONGRUANG
Thailand: Southeast Asia’s Last Hope for Wildlife?
With wildlife populations in Indochina in rapid decline, Thailand is the last great hope for the region’s natural heritage, particularly for large carnivores such as tigers and leopards. In fact, many donor organizations feel that Thailand has already achieved mid-level development status, making it more ...
China Shuts Down Ivory Trade, Wildlife Trafficking Continues
China deserves credit for shutting down the illegal trading in elephant ivory that has contributed in recent years to the killing of thousands of African pachyderms. But much credit should also go to international nongovernment organizations that have championed the elephants’ cause and raised public ...
Risk to endangered clouded leopards grows as smuggling rises
The smuggling of organs from clouded leopards has been rising and warrants immediate action to protect the big cat, environmentalists say.[]Clouded leopards have been seen only in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Bhutan and China.Keep reading ...
Eleven Reporter
Crocodile lizard is one of 115 new species found in Greater Mekong
A snail-eating turtle found in a food market and a bat with a horseshoe-shaped face are among 115 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region. A report from the conservation charity WWF reveals that three new mammals, 11 amphibians, two fish, 11 reptiles and 88 ...
The Guardian Reporter