Environment and natural resources
What happens when the soy and palm oil boom ends?
Over the past thirty years demand and production of oils crops like oil palm and soybeans has boomed across the tropics thanks to rising incomes, macroeconomic changes and government policies, and substitution effects. This rapid expansion has in some places taken a heavy toll on ...
Endangered bull killed in park in Central Highlands
A seven-year-old male Bos Gaurus bull, an endangered species listed in Group IB in Việt Nam’s Red Book, was killed in a protected area in Chư Mom Ray National Park last Friday. Đào Xuân Thủy, deputy director of the park’s management board, said the bull, ...
Pak Beng inquiry sought
Environment Ministry official Eang Sophalleth said on February 20 that he has made a request to the Mekong River Commission that Laos adequately investigate the potential impacts of the proposed Pak Beng hydropower dam ahead of a meeting this week. State news agency AKP on February ...
Three fish species known as ‘sea monsters’ in danger of extinction
Ca ho (Catlocarpio siamensis), vo co (Pangaius sannitwongsei) and tra dau (Pangasianodon gigas) living in the Mekong Delta are all large-size fish which can reach 300 kilos in weight and three meters in length. They are all in danger of extinction. As they have enormous ...
Govt gives in to protesters’ demands to order new study of Krabi coal-fired plant
The government has accepted demands from protesters and ordered that the Environmental and Health Impact Assessment of the Krabi coal-fired power plant be restarted from the beginning. The move has concerned officials at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, who voiced fears that the delay ...
The new normal: facing climate change
Last year’s drought caused a nationwide crisis, with harvests ruined, forest fires raging and many rural families struggling to feed themselves. As experts take stock of the impact, news of another potential El Niño raises a question: Is Cambodia prepared for the next drought? For ...
Khammuan confiscates large illegal timber haul
Yommalath district authorities in Khammuan province this week seized illegally harvested timber which was hidden inside a shipping container and buried underground at a sawmill in Donpeuay village. The incident was outlined by local media after provincial Forest Inspection Division officials teamed up with local ...
Forest reform proposal merits our full attention
Alarmed by the steep decline in Thailand’s forest cover, reformers have drafted proposals for remedial action. A few weeks ago, the National Reform Steering Assembly’s natural resources sub-panel completed a 250-page proposal, which has been submitted to the NRSA for endorsement. The document notes that ...
Land owners face prosecution over illegal timber, says Yangon forest department
Owners of timber yards will be prosecuted if illegal timber is found stored on their land, warned the Yangon Forest Department. U Thein Toe, the department’s director, said even if the land owners were unaware that their land was used to store illegal timber, they ...
Tracking water use on smartphone in HCMC
With a smartphone on hand, HCMC residents can monitor their domestic water use, leakage, and even online payment no matter where they are. A representative of Rynan Technologies introduces the smart water meter at a meeting with HCMC leaders in this file photo. The above features are ...
