Environment and natural resources
Energy efficiency crucial for ASEAN
Governments and the private sector have become increasingly aware of opportunities for significant savings through energy efficiency. Within ASEAN, there is about US$43 billion in potential savings available if member countries adopt a technology intense strategy to drive efficiency. Thailand alone could save more than copy.1 ...
Seventeen laborers walk home to Cambodia after being trafficked in Thailand
Seventeen laborers from Cambodia have returned home after they were trafficked to work in Thailand’s logging industry and had their pay withheld, forcing them to walk back to the border, a rights group said on 2 September. The 17 had been lured into Thailand with promises ...
Housing project threat to river basin ecology
A Vietnamese environmental watchdog group has reiterated its call for the permanent shutdown of a large residential project in Dong Nai province, just north of Ho Chi Minh City. Keep reading ...
China seizes 620 live turtles, most endangered, in shipment from Vietnam: report
Chinese border patrol officials seized 620 wild turtles and tortoises that were found alive in a shipment claimed to be frozen seafood from Vietnam, Xinhua News Agency said on 30 August. Keep reading ...
Locals lead response to climate change in Myanmar
Inle Lake, one of Myanmar’s most well-known attractions, is framed in part by the lush-looking surrounds of the Shan mountain range. But on closer inspection, what appears to be the green of forest is mainly hardy bush and grass, dotted with a few small trees. Deforestation, particularly ...
Gov’t warns of lawsuit over new illegal logging report
Environment and agriculture ministry officials 26 August warned the authors of a new report accusing the government of colluding with timber magnate Try Pheap to illegally log the protected forests of northeastern Cambodia that they could be sued unless they made changes to the text. Keep reading ...
Thailand destroys more than 2 tons of illegal ivory
Thai authorities destroyed more than 2 tons of seized and smuggled ivory on 26 August, in the latest move by the government to avoid possible economic sanctions over a perceived failure to tackle the illicit trade. Tusks from more than 200 dead African elephants and other ...
Fishing curbs pledged for Mandalay Lake
The Mandalay regional government will cease issuances of new commercial fishing licenses for Taungthaman Lake in a bid to conserve the body of water. Aung Maung, development affairs minister for Mandalay Division, announced the plan during the 13th regular session of the Mandalay divisional parliament on ...
Dams 'destroying Mekong fish stock'
Fishermen in delta and Northeast Thailand say dams in China and Laos have hit breeding and yields, forcing many to quit. Mekong River fishermen have already suffered dramatically from dams and irrigation works, which have decimated fish stocks and undermined livelihoods that supported families for generations.Nguyen Anh ...
Lao loggers backed by corrupt officials pillaged Champassak forests in July
Illegal logging in southern Laos’ Champassak province was particularly devastating on forests in July, according to a local police officer, who said businessmen working in tandem with high-ranking officials raced to cut timber in the region ahead of the start of the rainy season. The police ...
