Environment and natural resources
Greater Mekong primates struggle to cling on amid persistent threats: Report
When scientists described the Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa) as a species new to science in 2020, it was already staring extinction in the face. Fewer than 260 of the fluffy gray leaf-eating monkeys are estimated to remain across four precariously isolated patches of forest on Myanmar’s central ...
Carolyn Cowan
The Mekong Delta in Vietnam is sinking. Can sediment save it?
In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to about 17 million people, large areas of land have been poldered for the cultivation of crops such as rice and shrimp. At the moment, the delta is on average less than a meter above sea level. But due to ...
Wageningen University
Mekong group urges better water management collaboration as record drought persists
The inter-governmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) on Thursday called on China and mainland Southeast Asian countries to better coordinate management of Mekong hydropower dams and reservoirs after three years of record low flows and extra dry conditions. The Mekong River’s flow dropped to the lowest levels ...
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Martin Petty
Endangered ‘barking deer’ strikes a pose for conservationists
The spots on the back of the large-antlered muntjac may have given it away as a fawn, but the photo of the deer suckling from its mother served as confirmation. Photographs of the moment are the first known images of a large-antlered muntjac fawn in Cambodia. ...
ANTON L. DELGADO
Group starts ‘one-dollar’ campaign to protect forest
A local community in Oddar Meanchey province is doing an online “one-dollar” campaign to raise funds for forest protection after facing personnel shortfalls for their patrolling, leaving much of the Sorng Rukhavorn Wildlife Sanctuary’s more than 30,000ha unprotected. The Sorng Rukhavorn forest community said forestry crimes ...
Long Kimmarita
Scientists step up hunt for ‘Asian unicorn’, one of world’s rarest animals
Weighing 80-100kg and sporting long straight horns, white spots on its face and large facial scent glands, the saola does not sound like an animal that would be hard to spot. But it was not until 1992 that this elusive creature was discovered, becoming the first ...
Veronika Perková
Consumption of plastics doubles in Myanmar amid pandemic: environmental group
According to Thant Myanmar, the consumption of plastic has doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic in Myanmar. Ma The Su Aye, manager of Thant Myanmar’s Rural Waste Management, told DMG that the increase was due to the increasing use of plastics, which are currently being used during ...
Development Media Group
Cambodia one of just 49 countries to submit climate strategy to UN
Cambodia on December 30 submitted its egy (LTS4CN) to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , according ...
Ry Sochan
Sixth Irrawaddy dolphin calf for 2021
Conservationists are celebrating the discovery of a sixth Irrawaddy dolphin calf born last year in Kratie province’s Mekong river. This finding came to light following research completed by the Fisheries Administration and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The calf recorded on December 31 is the latest ...
Mao Chanvireak
Lower water levels drag fisheries yield down for 2021
Lower water levels than previous years and illegal fishing are the main factors driving the reduction in the yield of fisheries lakes and rivers this year, said officials and key insiders. Figures from the Fisheries Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the fisheries yield ...
Chea Vanyuth