Environment and natural resources

The Mekong River Commission and the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center have signed a memorandum of understanding to improve the management of the Mekong river. As part of the agreement, both organisations will research on drought and low flow scenarios in the lower and upper Mekong ...

A crisis is engulfing the Mekong River, its banks are collapsing and half a million people are at risk of losing their homes. The entire ecosystem of this South East Asian river is under threat, all because of the world’s insatiable demand for sand. Extracted from the ...

Tbong sits in the shade of a makeshift stilt hut over the edge of Tonlé Sap lake, surrounded by curious children. “Snake, catfish, elephant fish ” he says, his eyes crinkled against the sun. “Before, a long time ago the lake had a lot of ...

Are tigers extinct in Laos? That’s the conclusion of a detailed new study that found no evidence wild tigers still exist in the country. What researchers did find during a five-year camera survey of the biodiversity-rich Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area was evidence of snares — lots and ...

China has declared a 60-kilometre section of Mekong River off-limits to all types of boats indefinitely while rock blasting is undertaken to widen the channel for commercial shipping operations. China announced on Friday that operators of all types of boats should avoid entering the river from ...

The German government today provided an additional 2 million euro ($2.2 million) to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to increase cross-border water dialogue, cooperation, and support efforts in monitoring trans boundary environmental impacts from Mekong mainstream dams. The funding agreement was made in a signing ceremony ...

The Kingdom has welcomed 13 newborn Irrawaddy dolphins in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces so far this year, according to the World Wildlife Fund. WWF yesterday said in a report its research team spotted the latest calf during an expedition to the Kampi dolphin pool in ...

The co-management model for mangrove forest protection in Soc Trang province has improved livelihoods in local communities and efficiently protects forests. Located south of the Hau River, the southern-most tributary of the Mekong River, Soc Trang has faced the impacts of climate change, including coastal erosion. Human activities ...

The world has long associated plummeting populations of Southeast Asian wildlife with news of forest degradation and poignant images of deforested lands. Recent studies, however, bring to light another human practice that’s been driving the decline of wildlife numbers in these ecosystems. Researchers from the Leibniz ...

Conflicts over land and water flared across the world this year amid greater competition for resources and increasing hostility towards farmers and indigenous people, according to two reports published Tuesday. At least 108 people were killed trying to protect their land from encroaching industries in 23 ...