Environment and natural resources
In defining plantations as forest, FAO attracts criticism
What’s in a definition? For some, too much. Nearly 200 organizations have signed an open letter to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, calling for the agency to change how they define “forest” – the very landscape honored today on International Day ...
Dam blamed as dolphins vanish
The last remaining Irrawaddy dolphins have stopped coming to a stretch of the Mekong river in Preah Rumkel commune due to the Don Sahong hydropower dam in nearby Laos, locals have warned. The activists from Stung Treng province say the dam, which is less than ...
Vietnam lacks green works despite legal framework
Despite many regulations favoring energy-saving construction, Vietnam still has few green buildings. The rapid development of the middle-class, which uses air-conditioners regularly, is a major reason behind the increasingly high electricity consumption in large cities of Vietnam, according to EuroCham. Tomaso Andreatta, chair of EuroCham’s Green ...
Ranger station razed by mob
A mob of some 60 men burned down an environmental ranger station inside Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday, allegedly as revenge against rangers who had previously stopped them from clearing forest, an official said yesterday. Keo Sopheak, provincial environmental department director, said the ...
Denmark prohibits companies from selling Myanmar teak on European Union markets
Denmark last week placed an injunction on all Danish companies that prohibits them from selling teak imported from Myanmar on European markets. The ruling comes after evidence that Danish timber company Keflico had violated the European Union Timber Regulation was brought to light by the ...
Myanmar timber enterprise to respond to Danish teak sanctions
Danish authorities have made a ruling to place injunctions on all seven Danish operators bringing Myanmar teak into the Scandinavian country. Myanmar Timber Enterprise has plans to respond to the sanctions placed on the entire Myanmar teak industry, according to U Khin Maung Kyi, deputy ...
Poor crop hurts cashew farmers
Many farmers in the southern provinces of Bình Thuận, Bình Phước and Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu have been encountering difficulties due to a poor cashew crop caused by bad weather and plant diseases. Nguyễn Đình Chương, a farmer who has four hectares of cashew ...
Dozens of service co-ops treat waste
Environmental services co-operatives have been operating for years in the northern province of Vĩnh Phúc, providing a cleaner living environment for residents. For example, in Bình Xuyên District’s Tam Hợp Commune, the Tam Hợp Environment Service Co-operative, founded in 2014, is equipped with two incinerators ...
Probe finds high-ranking officials involved in smuggling timber to Vietnam
An official investigation has found that more than a dozen police, military police and army officials allegedly colluded with Vietnamese timber smugglers to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in bribes, according to a letter from National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun. Signed by ...
Cambodia’s Sambor dam plans causes controversy as public left in the Dark
“If the dam is built, it will be like before, in the time of the Khmer Rouge when we all had to move,” said Plau Saret, 44, of Domrae Village on the Mekong River island of Koh Tnaot, right next to the proposed Sambor Dam ...
