Environment and natural resources

Two members of an elephant-poaching gang have been arrested in Ngapudaw township in Ayeyarwady Region’s Pathein district, but at least one other person associated with the group remains at large, the Department of Forestry said in a statement released on 13 October. Keep reading ...

Vietnam hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent a year by 2030. This is equal to about 787.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Deputy Minister of Nature Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha announced this on 12 October at a conference in Hanoi. ...

Any projects using forest land in the future must include, once put forward for investment approval, a feasible report on the plan to plant new trees and to allocate a specific land fund, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. During an online conference of the ...

Vietnam must improve the management of its numerous reservoirs to protect the rights and interests of residents in the downstream areas, and to optimise the efficiency of its water management and hydropower projects, experts said during a conference on the subject last week. Experts said the ...

Vietnam’s tourism administration agency has expressed support for installing a controversial cable car system near the world’s largest cave, Son Doong, news website VnExpress reported on 12 October.   Nguyen Van Tuan, chief of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, was quoted as saying that the system, ...

Hydrologists have warned about imminent flooding in the Red River in northern Vietnam due to huge discharge of water from upstream reservoirs in China.   Water levels in the river rose to 31.7 m in Yen Bai Province on 12 October before receding, according to the National Center ...

Two Vietnamese nationals were arrested in Cambodia’s Mondolkiri province as they attempted to cross the border back into Vietnam on 8 October in a tour bus loaded with high-grade timber, authorities said 11 October. Keep reading ...

Walk down any street in Luang Prabang, Laos, and you will be presented with any number of opportunities to interact with elephants. Some are more ethical than others. Indeed, at the Elephant Village, 15 kilometres outside town, the motto is: “Saving elephants is our mission.” Keep reading ...

The government is ready to help Indonesia tackle the haze pollution problem which has spread over large parts of the region after its envoy admitted the country’s efforts are not enough to stop the fires, Foreign Ministry deputy permanent secretary Vitavas Srivihok said. Keep reading ...

Hanoi will spend VND1.35 trillion (US$60 million) on an environmental campaign to fight pollution in 80 of its craft villages through 2030, the capital city’s Department of Trade and Industry said on 7 October. Water samples taken from 40 craft villages in Hanoi raised red flags ...