Environment and natural resources
Environmental and biodiversity protection
NLD urged to make environment a focus
After five years in which the government had concentrated on economic reforms, it was now time to protect the neglected environment, activists say. Speaking at a 25 November conference on environmental laws organised by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, participants said the incoming government ...
Mekong yields first giant catfish of year
One of the largest and rarest freshwater fish in the world was netted by local fishermen near Phnom Penh earlier this month. A two-metre Mekong giant catfish, weighing an estimated 90 to 114 kilos, one of only a handful left of a species that faces extinction, ...
Thailand aims to cut emissions 25%
Thailand will clarify its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20-25% within 2030 at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 21, in Paris next month. Prasert Sirinapaporn, director of Climate Change Management and the Coordination Division of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental ...
Mekong river dolphin faces added threat of Laos dam
Conservation experts and residents in Cambodia’s Kratie province say they are concerned for the wellbeing of the Mekong River dolphin, especially if a major hydropower project is built upstream. Laos says it intends to go forward with the Don Sahong Dam project, despite opposition from Cambodia ...
Mekong locals seek a voice on Don Sahong
More than 6,400 residents of Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia have signed and thumb-printed a statement on the Don Sahong Dam project, airing concerns ranging from the river’s diminishing fish stocks to the lack of transparency of the Mekong River Commission. The statement, presented last week at ...
Cambodia’s energy policy out of balance: WEC
Expensive and unreliable electricity continues to weigh down Cambodia’s ranking on the UN-accredited World Energy Council’s annual Energy Trilemma Index, according to a report released on 11 November. The Kingdom ranked a low 115 out of 130 countries on the annual index, which assesses countries according ...
Lao Government, stakeholders raise awareness of corporate social responsibility
Government officials and stakeholders met in Vientiane on 9 November to discuss and promote understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR), especially in the land and natural resources sector. The meeting was organised by the Investment Promotion Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment in collaboration with ...
Laos on international unregulated logging list
A consultation workshop on the Forestry Legality Compendium held in Vientiane on 6 November revealed that Laos is one of many countries still on the list of those where unregulated logging takes place. Laos is listed because internationally it is considered that some aspects of forest management ...
Vietnam's longest river is 'seriously' polluted: authority
Vietnam’s environment police on 6 November warned of worsening pollution in the Dong Nai River, the southern region’s main water supply that has been being exposed to multiple sources of contamination. Speaking at a meeting, Duong Van Linh, deputy chief of the Department of Environment Police under ...
Thai Government to roll out decree in IUU fight
The Thai government will roll out an executive decree and other measures next week to deal with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Speaking after chairing a meeting 29 October on the problem, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said a committee set up to tackle IUU ...
