Environment and natural resources
Forests and forestry
No violations of timber ban, forestry sector reports
There have been no violations of the ban on timber exports to foreign countries from the provinces after the Prime Minister issued the order almost nine months ago, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Thongphath Vongmany ...
Laos, China launch plant inspection and quarantine project
Laos will benefit from a new plant inspection and quarantine development project with a feasibility study looking at improving the protection of agriculture and forestry production along the country’s borders. An agreement to implement the project was signed on Friday in Vientiane between the Director ...
Green groups want paper giant to stop using drained peat in Indonesia
International and Indonesian NGOs are calling on the country’s largest paper company to stop using drained peat swamps for industrial agriculture. The practice, which relies on drying out the waterlogged soil so that acacia trees can be planted, has enabled vast new swaths of land ...
Study finds that carbon finance is not a one-size-fits-all solution to deforestation
Halting the pace at which we’re destroying the world’s forests for agriculture, forestry, mines, and other economic development projects is crucial to combating climate change. Carbon finance, which involves creating monetary incentives for companies and countries to invest in programs to reduce carbon emissions, is ...
Timber smuggling worries Kon Tum
Local residents are concerned about timber being smuggled on the Đắk Bla River in the Central Highland province of Kon Tum, after authorities failed to stop the illegal activity. Last Tuesday, local media reported that smugglers are using tyres to float timber on the Đắk ...
Nickel and Dimed on frog mountain
Our motorbikes crossed flimsy bamboo bridges in western Sagaing Division, a landscape still showing the devastation of 2015’s floods. Shifting gears up a twisting, muddy hill trail took us over the border to Chin State. There, several villages are tucked into the forested slopes of ...
More animals removed from controversial Tiger Temple
Parks officials on January 19 mobilised staff from the Protected Areas Regional Office 3 to catch protected and endangered animals left at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanburi province. The animals were left over from the last animal seizure at the controversial temple mid last year, ...
Govt prepares Unesco defence of Khao Yai world heritage status
The expansion of highways and new irrigation projects were the primary concerns raised concerning the world heritage status of the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, with a report on the issue to be handed to the World Heritage Centre on February 1. Thailand’s National Committee ...
Phong Nha Heritage forest seriously damaged by loggers
Numerous precious timber planks chopped down by illegal loggers have been left on the ground, amid vast clearings in the Hoa Son forest. After one and half an hours of crossing steep mountains, reporters reached the timber-rich area of Hoa Son Forest in Minh Hoa district ...
Private capital investments in conservation have taken off since 2013
Over the past decade, banks, fund managers, and others funneled more than $8 billion into investments aimed at delivering measurable environmental benefits as much as financial returns, according to a new report prepared by the NGO Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace initiative. The findings of the ...