Environment and natural resources

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and its development partners organised a review of the Second Lao Environment and Social Project in 2016 and planning meeting for next year’s works. The concerned departments at the ministry highlighted the key achievements of 13 sub-projects under ...

The Asian Development Bank will provide US$32 million for the Climate-Friendly Agribusiness Value Chains Sector Project in Laos next year. This information was confirmed on Monday by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Khamlian Pholsena after returning from the 21st GMS Ministerial Conference, held ...

The implementation of a series of projects on the beach dunes near Hoi An will create challenges for Hoi An in its path for sustainable development. In March 2008, after getting the nod from the Quang Nam provincial People’s Committee, Gami Hoi An JSC started ...

The Bình Thuận administration has sought to allay concerns over the proposed dumping of 1.5 cubic metres of “materials” into the ocean, saying these are “natural sea sediment”, not industrial waste.  However, officials have also acknowledged that the concerns are valid and the Ministry of ...

The discovery of two new-born sarus crane chicks in the Huai Chorakhe Mak Non-Hunting area in Buri Ram two months ago has prompted a plan by the Zoological Park Organisation to have the birds de-listed as an extinct species. Instead, they look set to be reclassified ...

As construction on the Don Sahong dam near the Cambodia-Laos border passes its halfway point, activists and locals are increasingly concerned over the disappearance of Irawaddy dolphins and incidences of illness they suspect are caused by the muddied water. “The waters downstream in Cambodia have ...

Many provinces in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are taking measures to secure freshwater for farming and household use since drought and saltwater intrusion is expected to be severe in the 2016-17 dry season.  Nguyễn Thiện Pháp, head of the Tiền Giang Province Irrigation Sub-department, ...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is considering whether the figure for this year’s dry season rice plan should be revised downwards or remain stable after the last four harvests failed to reach the target. Last dry season, farmers planted only about 99,000 hectares or ...

Five thermal power projects have been developed in Binh Thuan province, raising serious concerns about pollution, as the plants are located near marine protected area. Binh Thuan has emerged as a province which attracts many industrial projects, especially thermal power ones. The Vinh Tan Power ...

Humility is a rare commodity in the era of the smartphone, selfies and carefully–coiffed digital personas. Gratitude, too, is unusual in the modern world where a sense of entitlement seems all pervasive. Despite most of us being aware enough to acknowledge that all human beings ...