Environment and natural resources
New Mekong dams to affect millions in Vietnam
Building more dams along the Mekong River will destroy the livelihoods of millions of people, according to a report commissioned by the Vietnamese government. It also says plans to construct new dams will damage crops with salt water intrusion, particularly in the south where the Mekong ...
EPF extends support to combat illegal hunting and trading of wildlife
The Environmental Protection Fund has budgeted over US$ 1 million for two projects aiming to support the combat of illegal hunting and trading of wildlife in the country. The project known as Timber and Non-timber Forest Product Trade and Law Enforcement will receive US$568,862 and will ...
RCAF stripping timber from Oral Wildlife Sanctuary: probe
Military vehicles are hauling wood from a protected area to be burned as fuel in garment factories, investigators from NGO Wildlife Alliance have found. Seng Bunra, country director of NGO Conservation International, said on August 16 that RCAF trucks have become notorious for taking wood from ...
Environmentalists’ objections convince Shan parliament to reconsider building site
The speaker of the Shan State legislature has pledged to reconsider the location for the construction of a new regional parliamentary building after environmental activists voiced objections to the proposed site in the state capital of Taunggyi. Those in opposition to the plan launched a signature ...
The changing face of Japan-ASEAN aid
Japan’s foreign aid toolkit has been expanding since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012, as he seeks to shore up Japan’s influence in South-east Asia in the face of muscle-flexing by China. Japan announced on August 12 that it would give two new large ...
New commission to decide fate of Myitsone dam in Kachin State
President Htin Kyaw on Friday formed a new commission to evaluate all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River prior to their going ahead. The commission is tasked with assessing the potential environmental and social effects of any proposed project—both up- and downstream—its possible impact on ...
China's lack of cooperation causing problems for Vietnam's water resources programming
The lack of cooperation from China and its erratic methods of water storage and discharge has placed Vietnam in a passive mode when using water from the Red River. Tong Ngoc Thanh, director of the National Center for Water Resources Planning and Investigation, said at a ...
Drones will prove vital to land and wildlife conservation in Southeast Asia
The Sumatran orangutan is one of the world’s most high-profile critically endangered species. Only 6,000 are left, and the Bornean orangutan doesn’t fare much better. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that no more than 69,000 of the latter remain. Saving these animals from extinction requires innovative solutions from ...
EU asks gov’t to cancel Mondulkiri border crossing plan
The EU has called on the government to kill plans for a controversial border checkpoint in the Mondulkiri Protected Forest that has drawn the ire of conservationists since it was first mooted two years ago. At a meeting with Interior Minister Sar Kheng on August 9, ...
Many more species at risk from Southeast Asia tree plantations, study finds
As more of Southeast Asia’s forests are cleared for tree plantations, a study finds that 42 percent of mammal, bird and amphibian species endemic to the region’s forests face a higher risk of extinction from habitat loss than previously thought. Many of the species inhabit ...
