Protected areas
Protected forest
Hundreds of logged trees found in protected Pursat forest
An official delegation led by the head of the nation’s illegal logging task force found hundreds of felled trees inside protected forest areas in Pursat province on February 14, officials said. National Military Police chief General Sao Sokha, who heads the task force, and more ...
Ministries urged to do more to protect forests
Forest activists and community representatives have urged the government to post markers at protected natural areas to prevent encroachment of loggers and the clearing of forest. The proposal was made at a forum on protecting and conserving natural resources on February 6 attended by the Environment Minister, ...
Minister calls for chainsaw import ban to tackle logging
Environment Minister Say Sam Al on February 6 said he would seek approval for a ban on the import of chainsaws in a bid to tackle the country’s persistent illegal logging trade. Mr. Sam Al announced his plans during a morning meeting at the ministry, ...
The Philippines declares more than 100,000 acres as critical habitat
In November last year, the Philippines declared its largest critical habitat yet. Located in the long, narrow Philippine island of Palawan, the new Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat is spread across 41,350 hectares (more than 100,000 acres). The second largest critical habitat, Carmen Critical Habitat for ...
Ministry issues measures meant to counter wildfires
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries on January 30 signed off on a list of seven measures intended to guard against forest fires, although details on implementation remained scarce on January 31 and observers said they expected little to come of the new document. The ...
Thap Lan: Thailand's unsung forest gemk under threat, but still abrim with life
On the trail of a conservation group conducting a wildlife monitoring survey, we stop the 4×4 on the road and walk along the red earth to check on camera traps. Wildlife rangers from Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and international conservationists ...
Govt prepares Unesco defence of Khao Yai world heritage status
The expansion of highways and new irrigation projects were the primary concerns raised concerning the world heritage status of the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, with a report on the issue to be handed to the World Heritage Centre on February 1. Thailand’s National Committee ...
Private capital investments in conservation have taken off since 2013
Over the past decade, banks, fund managers, and others funneled more than $8 billion into investments aimed at delivering measurable environmental benefits as much as financial returns, according to a new report prepared by the NGO Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace initiative. The findings of the ...
Farewell to Vo Quy, Vietnam's hero of the environment
Vietnam’s Professor Vo Quy has passed away in Hanoi at age 87. The well-known and well-loved zoologist had a storied career that spanned decades and, even in his 80s, he was still working and busy, as passionate as ever. I met Professor Vo Quy in Hanoi ...
Even as more new species are found, Southeast Asia is in the grip of a biodiversity crisis
Rich in wildlife, Southeast Asia includes at least six of the world’s 25 “biodiversity hotspots”—the areas of the world that contain an exceptional concentration of species in habitats that are also exceptionally endangered. The region contains 20 percent of the planet’s vertebrate and plant species and the ...
