Environment and natural resources
People benefit from Green Annamites Project
Nearly 30,000 people have benefited from improved natural resource management and biodiversity conservation thanks to the Green Annamites Project in Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces. The project has been sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2016-2020. It also reduced the amount of carbon ...
VNA
Ancient whale skeleton found in Thailand holds clues to climate change
A whale skeleton thought to be up to 5,000 years old has been discovered, almost perfectly preserved, by researchers in Thailand. The skeleton, believed to be a Bryde’s whale, was found in Samut Sakhon, west of Bangkok. Researchers have excavated 80% of the remains and have so ...
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Mekong ministers approve navigation and environment plans
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) says environment and water-resource ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have approved a navigation plan for the four countries and a regional environmental strategy. In a statement, the MRC said the two documents were among several approved during a virtual ...
New resources for forest protection
Vietnam has entered the world’s carbon credit trading market after a long period striving for sustainable forest management. This is a major event, marking a positive start in mobilising new resources for forest protection and improving forest quality and sustainable forest management, thereby helping Vietnam ...
Deforestation and greater risk of flooding set off environmental alarms in Vietnam
The recent, devastating floods highlight the fragility of the country’s natural environment. Deforestation, expanded farming, timber harvesting, and hydroelectric dams are the main culprits. In four years, 7,300 hectares of forest have been lost. So far, about 800 large, medium and small plants have been ...
Nguyn Hung
Japan donates $3 million to fight marine plastic waste
The Japanese government will provide a $3 million grant to help Cambodia fight marine plastic pollution and promote a responsible cycle of using, reusing and recycling all forms of plastic waste. The grant will fund an anti-waste project to be implemented by the Ministry of Environment, ...
Nov Sivutha
Fight for the Mekong gathers pace
More than 20 years ago, when two Chiang Rai-based environmentalists, Niwat Roikaew and Somkiat Kuenwongsa, learned that the Chinese government were blasting rapids in the upper Mekong River from Yunnan to Myanmar and Laos to clear the way for large commercial vessels, they started worrying. Back ...
PASSAKORN JUMLONGRACH
Can Tho, EU forge cooperation in climate change response
Leaders of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and the EU Delegation to Vietnam on November 23 shared a hope for multilateral cooperation in climate change response. At a reception for the EU Delegation, Tran Viet Truong, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said Can ...
VNA
Thailand Brings NASA Air Quality Data Down to Earth
For decades, NASA has used the vantage point of space, combined with airborne and ground-based field campaigns, to decipher the impact of air pollution and help other agencies protect people when unhealthy air threatens the places they live, work, and play. Now, government agencies in Thailand are harnessing the power ...
Molly Porter
Vietnam Revises Environmental Protection Law But Enforcement a Concern
Vietnam’s National Assembly Tuesday amended the country’s environmental protection law to give communities a bigger role in conservation and impose responsibilities on corporations, but critics say monitoring mechanisms in the country are not adequate to enforce it. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the Revised Law on Environmental Protection, ...
RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong