Environment and natural resources
Forests and forestry
Coal-powered developments threaten Cambodia’s largest national park
Cambodia’s government has granted permission for a new special economic zone (SEZ) and coal-fired power plant within the lush Botum Sakor National Park in coastal Koh Kong province. The SEZ would create another loosely regulated industrial area within a biodiverse primary forest. Late last year, Koh ...
Danielle Keeton-Olsen
Illegal company stopped from filling flooded forest in Banteay Meanchey
An illegal company that was not identified was stopped by authorities from filling in a protected flooded forest area in Banteay Meanchey province. Some villagers in Preah Netr Preah district’s Rohal commune said that in less than one year, 300 hectares were cleared and filled and ...
Yin Soeum
Andaman forests need longer intervals between repeat logging for recovery: study
To the untrained eye discerning between evergreen and deciduous tree mosaics of the Andaman archipelago can be tough in the wet season but the patches clearly stand out in the dry season in the volcanic ridge-arc islands. In the dry season between January and April, ...
Sahana Ghosh
Man goes from poacher to forest guardian
Once a hunter, he has laid down his rifle and become an active wildlife protector in Kim Bang District in the northern province of Ha Nam. In 1994, he accompanied expert Le Van Dung to investigate the Delacour’s langur population in Kim Bang forest. During the journey, they saw ...
Firm to plant 10M eucalyptus trees in Kratie, Stung Treng
Think Biotech (Cambodia) Co Ltd plans to plant 10 million eucalyptus trees on nearly 10,000ha in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces from May to August this year and is also looking for partners to plant more trees, according to the company’s report seen by the ...
Orm Bunthoeurn
Thailand aims at pandemic risks by fighting wildlife trade
Thailand is ramping up efforts to curb trade in wildlife to help reduce the risk of future pandemics, officials said Thursday, though it was unclear whether that would mean an end to all such sales in the wildlife trafficking hub. The government intends to make Thailand ...
ELAINE KURTENBACH
‘Drastic forest development’: Vietnam to plant 1 billion trees — but how?
In October and November of 2020, a relentless barrage of nine typhoons and tropical storms slammed into Vietnam, setting off record floods and countless landslides. Nearly 200 people died, and property damage was estimated at $1.5 billion. Then-Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc responded on Nov. 10 ...
Michael Tatarski
Herd of rare banteng spotted in Huai Kha Khaeng
Rangers and a professional photographer exploring the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary were in for a treat on May 11 when they spotted and quickly photographed more than 60 banteng cows and bulls, which are listed as endangered species. “Rangers and Athit Nima, a professional photographer, ...
THE NATION
Trafficking of banned Myanmar teak lands German company with $4m fine
WOB Timber, a logging company based in Hamburg, Germany, has been ordered by a court to pay a $4 million fine for illegally trading Myanmar timber. The April 27 decision was one of the highest financial penalties for this type of crime in the European ...
Nicolás Bustamante Hernández
At Vietnam’s southern tip, mangroves defend the land from the encroaching sea
Seen from above, Cape Ca Mau National Park, at Vietnam’s southernmost point, juts into the Gulf of Thailand like a verdant green toe. This dark green shade is created by an expansive, ecologically vital mangrove forest. But the province the park sits in, also called Ca ...
Michael Tatarski