Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
Laos faces the unknown as elephants walk from logging into tourism
Walk down any street in Luang Prabang, Laos, and you will be presented with any number of opportunities to interact with elephants. Some are more ethical than others. Indeed, at the Elephant Village, 15 kilometres outside town, the motto is: “Saving elephants is our mission.” Keep reading ...
Xayaboury dam 50% completed
After beginning in 2012, the construction of the US$3.5 billion Xayaboury dam is now about 50 per cent complete, according to a report by Vientiane Times. When it becomes operational in 2019, about 95 percent of the 1,285-megawatt electricity produced will be sold to Thailand. The dam, ...
Another Areng Valley activist arrested
A prominent Areng Valley activist joined three other environmentalists in jail on 7 October in Koh Kong after being questioned at the provincial court about alleged “forest crimes”. Ven Vorn, 36, a community representative and commune councillor with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, was arrested at the ...
Vietnamese teens busted in Cambodia with endangered animals
Two Vietnamese teenagers were arrested in Kandal province on 2 October after being found illegally transporting 44 endangered tortoises, which they reportedly intended to smuggle into Vietnam for sale. Keep reading ...
7 more bears saved from Vietnamese farms
Animal rights activists on 22 September rescued seven bears from farms in northern Vietnam in their efforts to save the animal from the local bear bile extraction industry. Members of a Hong Kong-based animal welfare group brought the bears to Vietnam’s biggest bear sanctuary at Tam Dao National ...
Vietnam expels Chinese man for illegal mass earthworm hunting
Quang Tri border guards have deported a Chinese man who had asked locals to help him hunt earthworms using an illegal chemical and promised to buy the crawl for a high price. Gan DeQiang, 40, was also fined VND16 million (US$712) for his violations, according to ...
Mekong river ecosystem at risk over dam construction in Laos
The construction of a dam in Laos is endangering the ecosystem of the Mekong river, one of the world’s largest rivers running a length of 5,000 km (3,107 miles) and a source of life and livelihood for millions living along its banks. The dam threatens the ...
Forest conservation project launched to protect Vietnam biodiversity
The Vietnam Administration of Forestry and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Co-oporation and Development have launched the “Programme on Conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity and ecosystems services in Vietnam”. Keep reading ...
Dam threat to Mekong River’s last few dolphins
The fate of the last surviving Irrawaddy river dolphins on the Laos-Cambodian border hangs in the balance after a Laos government official was reported as saying this week that construction of the dam would begin by the end of the year.Keep reading ...
NGOs, Cambodia voice alarm at Lao decision to proceed with Don Sahong Dam
Cambodian officials vowed on 11 September to prevent neighbor Laos from going ahead with construction of the controversial Don Sahong dam without approval from fellow Mekong River basin countries that would be affected by the project. The Phnom Penh officials, as well as local and international non-governmental ...
