Environment and natural resources
New community fisheries project to preserve Mekong's biodiversity
A new community fisheries project in the Mekong River was launched in Vientiane on August 28 with the Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry agreeing to cooperate with the Worldwide Fund for Nature. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the DLF’s Deputy ...
Human-induced climate change began earlier than previously thought
Signs of warming appear as early as 1830 say researchers, whose analysis will help build accurate baseline of temperature before influence of human activity. Continents and oceans in the northern hemisphere began to warm with industrial-era fossil fuel emissions nearly 200 years ago, pushing back the ...
Dams inevitably result in species decline, losses on reservoir islands
Hydropower development is booming, with controversial projects unfolding across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. Though often presented as a green renewable energy option, dams can cause a litany of negative impacts: disrupting the downstream flow of nutrients, interrupting aquatic migration routes and harming fisheries. They ...
Blind dolphins in Ganga waterway
National waterways, starting with the Ganga, are being pushed as eco-friendly transport; nobody seems to have thought about the effect on the endangered Gangetic River Dolphin or the other life in the river. In March 2016, India passed the National Waterways Act, which marks 106 rivers ...
Vietnam seeks French support for 'maritime freedom'
France and other countries should help to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam’s president told AFP on August 24, as unease grows over China’s increasingly muscular approach in the key waterway. China claims most of the sea where it has built up ...
PM tries again on deforestation
In recent months Prime Minister Hun Sen has made an effort to show that the government has a handle on the voracious deforestation that has ravaged the country’s forests over the years. Yet his speeches and decrees have done little to slow down, much less ...
Battambang rice-farming families fear floods
About 40,000 Battambang rice-farming families already suffering steep losses from a severe drought are at risk of seeing their crops wiped out entirely by devastating floods as late seasonal rains start to kick in. A drought that meteorologists have blamed on the tail-end of an El ...
Shan community groups want Salween dams scrapped
Representatives of Shan communities have expressed serious concerns on the ongoing plan to construct a series of hydropower dams on the Salween River, saying many areas are still plagued with ongoing fighting between minority groups and the government. Shan State Rivers Network’s coordinator Sai Khur Hseng ...
Non-ASEAN investors now qualify for local privileges
Non-ASEAN-based investors who have already invested in ASEAN will now be eligible for privileges enjoyed by their ASEAN counterparts in five sectors: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, mining and industrial. The International Economic Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on August 22 approved a proposal by ...
Vietnam central coast safe for swimming, aquaculture after disaster: study
The results of a study released on August 22 show that Vietnam’s central coast is again safe for swimming and aquaculture, four months after toxic effluents discharged by Taiwan-owned Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp caused mass fish deaths. Prof Mai Trong Nhuan of the Hanoi National University, ...
