Environment and natural resources
Myanmar-China illegal timber trade still thriving: report
Timber extracted from Myanmar’s frontier forests is flowing into China in illegal transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to a report published on 17 September. The research, by the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and partly financed by the UK, the European ...
Sweet plans for future of Shan honey
Honey may soon join wine and coffee as among Shan State’s best-known local commodities, as production grows. Myanmar is set to export about 3500 tonnes of the sweet stuff this year, and experts say the “Made in Myanmar” honey label may soon spread. Rabbi Yossi Ives, chief ...
200 experts discuss sustainable manufacturing in southern Vietnam
More than 200 researchers and practitioners from around the world are attending a three-day conference on sustainable manufacturing in the southern province of Binh Duong. The 13th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, from 16-18 September, offered keynote speeches, panel discussions with parallel sessions on sustainable approaches ...
Mekong river ecosystem at risk over dam construction in Laos
The construction of a dam in Laos is endangering the ecosystem of the Mekong river, one of the world’s largest rivers running a length of 5,000 km (3,107 miles) and a source of life and livelihood for millions living along its banks. The dam threatens the ...
Firm closer to applying for mining licence amid local uproar
As Udon Thani environmentalists expressed their objection to a public meeting on mining concessions being held at a military camp, Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC) was one step closer to applying for the mining licence. APPC executive Woravudh Hiranyapaisansakul said the public meeting in Non Sung district ...
Military police seize vehicle with army plates, rosewood
Military police in Kompong Chhnang province said they found 290 kg of rosewood in the back of an SUV with military license plates on 14 September but failed to apprehend the driver, who escaped in a car that had been following his. Keep reading ...
Forest conservation project launched to protect Vietnam biodiversity
The Vietnam Administration of Forestry and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Co-oporation and Development have launched the “Programme on Conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity and ecosystems services in Vietnam”. Keep reading ...
Dam threat to Mekong River’s last few dolphins
The fate of the last surviving Irrawaddy river dolphins on the Laos-Cambodian border hangs in the balance after a Laos government official was reported as saying this week that construction of the dam would begin by the end of the year.Keep reading ...
Myanmar third-worst for deforestation rate, says UN
Myanmar’s forests are in trouble. Two recent reports reveal the rapid loss of tree cover over the past five years has been so severe Myanmar ranks among the worst for deforestation in the world. Since 2010, Myanmar has lost more than 546,000 hectares (over 1.3 million ...
Trees ‘felled for pepper’
Batambang’s Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary is being illegally logged for pepper posts, with brokers bribing environment officers to transport the timber, residents and NGO workers have said. Keep reading ...
