Environment and natural resources

A senior US diplomat on Thursday said China’s “manipulation” of water flows in the Mekong River – currently at record lows – was an immediate challenge to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, signalling the issue could be on the agenda in a regional forum ...

Thailand signed a US$5 million grant agreement with the World Bank today in support of reducing the import and use of ozone-depleting chemicals by 2023 by more than 60 percent, as part of the country’s obligations under the Montreal Protocol. Thailand is one of the world’s ...

The Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s agriculture hub, needs $4.7 to $6.7 billion in 2021-2025 for smart projects to tackle climate change, the World Bank says. A report released by the bank last week says there are considerable opportunities for further development of the Mekong Delta region, which ...

Every morning at 5:30, Yang Phorn and some of his neighbors from a village west of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, climb on motorbikes to go honeybee hunting in a forest far from home. Before the 47-year-old and the others set, they prepare bags of rice and ...

Over the last three years, the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf have been telling us many stories of failures, successes and uncertainties. These camps are a painful symbol of Myanmar’s atrocities against its own citizens, making them stateless. The government of Bangladesh, the ...

In Cambodia, the Mekong River winds past Southeast Asia’s largest remaining lowland evergreen forest before filling up Tonle Sap, the region’s largest freshwater lake. The river, lined with valuable sand, is home to an abundance of endangered species like the Mekong giant catfish and giant ...

The Mekong Delta province of Kiên Giang has adjusted the zoning of the marine protected area of Phú Quốc National Park on Phú Quốc Island. Of the more than 40,909ha of the Phú Quốc Marine Protected Area, the strictly-protected zone covers more than 7,087ha, including some ...

Laos is hopeful that Hin Nam No (Karst) National Protection Area in Bualapha district of Khammuan province will achieve UNESCO World Heritage status by 2022. The 9th national steering committee meeting on the application for achieving this status for the site was convened in Vientiane on ...

Heavy rains and flooding in Northern Thailand damaged homes and killed 1 resident. 2 people are reported missing. The Nation Thailand did not report the details of the death, but says the “flood crisis” affected 10 provinces and more than 7,000 homes in the area. Flood victims are ...

Few countries have suffered such severe deforestation over the past two decades as Cambodia, a land once covered with expansive woodlands that were home to Indochinese tigers, elephants, and scores of endemic plant and animal species. Satellite surveys show that only 3 percent of Cambodia’s primary ...