Environment and natural resources
‘Water But No Fish’: Cambodia Faces Possible Food Crisis
For centuries, Cambodians have looked to Tonle Sap, both a river and a lake, for dinner. But a repast of grilled river fish, sprinkled with salt and stuffed with lemongrass, may soon be a very special event. Today, “there is only water but no fish,” said ...
Malis Tum
Mekong River falls to critical level, sand dunes emerge
The water in the Mekong River has fallen to a critical level, recorded at only 1.50 metres on Tuesday, lower than previous years. Sand islands are now exposed along many sections of the waterway. Inadequate rainfall has also left many reservoirs in the province at only ...
Pattanapong Sripiachai
NUOL project building capacity in environmental impact assessment
The Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the National University of Laos (NUOL) is reporting substantial progress in its project to build capacity in technical knowledge for environmental impact assessments (EIA). The project, running from 2018-2020, has been developing EIA training courses and textbooks for government staff, ...
Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Eating less meat can fight climate change
Food has an environmental impact. A 2018 study by J. Poore and T. Nemecek titled ‘Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,’ published by the University of Oxford revealed that food production is responsible for 26 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing ...
Liyana Hasnan
Hanoi's pollution exposes growth risks
A major mercury leak, tap water contamination, and “alarming” levels of haze: several pollution crises in Hanoi have sparked public fury and accusations that communist Vietnam is putting the economy ahead of the environment. Long tapped as an investors’ paradise thanks to its low-cost labour and ...
MRC takes note of challenges facing Mekong basin
The Mekong River Commission has urged member countries and stakeholders to urgently step up measures to better manage the Mekong river to protect remaining wetlands and riverine habitats. An Pich Hatda, chief executive officer of the MRC secretariat, said in the MRC State of the Basin ...
Pech Sotheary
Vietnam - "Rise and Fall" toward a sustainable Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is one of the most vulnerable deltas to climate change, particularly sea level rise. However, the social and economic developments in the region also have a significant impact on the land. Urbanisation, land-use transformation, intensification of economic activities and human protection against ...
Tackling Thailand's food-waste crisis
When one-third of all food produced globally is thrown away while nearly one billion people go hungry, food waste is not only a moral travesty, it’s also a crime against nature. Each year 1,300 tonnes of food waste in landfills around the world contributes 8% of ...
Thanthip Srisuwannaket & Caratlux Liumpetch
Illegal wildlife meat seized at Stung Treng market
The Stung Treng provincial Forestry Administration seized 40kg of wildlife meat on Monday from the Stung Treng Samaki market in Stung Treng town where it was being illegally sold. Orn Chan Socheat, the acting director of the Stung Treng Forestry Administration, confirmed the seizure but said ...
Soth Koemsoeun
'Barbaric' snares are wiping out Southeast Asia's wild animals
Across Southeast Asia, wild animals are being hunted out of existence to feed growing demand for bushmeat, according to conservationists. Thomas Gray, science director with conservation group Wildlife Alliance, which operates in Cambodia, says that snares — simple traps made of wire and rope — have become the single biggest ...
Sarah Lazarus