Environment and natural resources
New protected forests test overstretched ministry
The nearly 1 million hectares of newly protected forests the Environment Ministry wants to create by the end of the year will add nearly a third more land to the portfolio of an agency already struggling to manage the 3.2 million hectares it has. And ...
DSI vows to help save Naga Noi forest
Pol Lt-Colonel Prawut Wongseenin, who heads the DSI Bureau of Consumer Protection and Environment Crime, disclosed on 6 April that the department in Thailand would ask Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya for help in seeking an order from the junta to block any bulldozing operations pending ...
Vietnam warns of dire impact from planned Mekong dams
Vietnam has predicted “very high adverse effects” on the Mekong River environment and economy if 11 proposed dams are built on its lower mainstream. Mekong River Commission said it considers the report an internal document and is not yet releasing it. Vietnam has not released ...
Hadxaifong people to have clean water on tap in 2017
A huge number of people living in around 30 villages of Hadxaifong district, Vientiane, will have clean water coming from their taps next year after a local company completes the construction of the Thadeua water treatment plant. Work on the project began last year and is ...
Laos, China and Vietnam join to combat wildlife trafficking
Frontline enforcement officers last from key provinces, ports and border posts in Laos, China and Vietnam completed an inter-agency field mission this week to share experiences, approaches and update the situation on wildlife smuggling networks along the major trade routes between China, Vietnam and Laos. Keep ...
Locals join hands to fight against saline intrusion
In their fight against drought and saline intrusion, farmers in Tiểu Cần District of the southern Trà Vinh Province have contributed their own money to build canals and ditches. Each household in the Trung Tiến Hamlet of Tân Hùng Commune contributes about VNĐ70,000 (US$3) per every ...
Shan community groups denounce European-backed dam projects
Ethnic Shan communities in northern Shan State have called for an end to four planned hydropower dams on the Namtu River, an Irrawaddy tributary, citing irreparable damage to the environment. More than 100 people gathered in Hsipaw Township to hold a prayer service on the bank ...
Report calls for logging moratorium, end to state-run MTE
International and Burmese environmental organizations this week said Burma’s forest reserves are largely exhausted, calling for a moratorium on commercial logging and the dismantling or privatization of the state-owned Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE). Those finding came in an analysis released on 30 March in a report ...
Rosewood haul found in Tbong Khmum tied to local chief
Provincial authorities in Tboung Khmum province on 26 March said they discovered 17 tonnes of illegal rosewood hidden on a commune chief’s family’s land, only to have a mob of armed local residents break into the property that night and steal potential evidence. Keep reading ...
Charoen Pokphand group stung by 'bald mountain' accusations
Embattled Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group will launch a social enterprise in Nan province to encourage farmers to grow cash crops other than maize, as a long-term solution to the problems created by deforestation, which has resulted in khao hua lone, or bald mountains. Suphachai Chearavanont, vice-chairman of ...
