Environment and natural resources
New study analyses biggest threats to Southeast Asian biodiversity
Southeast Asia is a global biodiversity hotspot — but with about 4 billion people living in the region, the pressures on that biodiversity are severe. Southeast Asia is a global biodiversity hotspot — but with about 4 billion people living in the region, the pressures on ...
Mekong Delta 2016: historic drought, saline intrusion destroys crops
Dried fields, cattle dying of thirst, expensive drinking water, sea water overflowing houses. In 2016, the lives of millions of people in Mekong Delta, Central Highlands and central region were upset because of drought and salinity intrusion. In the first months of 2016, when the north ...
New dam on Mekong looms
Representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam gathered in Vientiane on Thursday to launch a six-month consultation process on what would be the third mainstream hydropower dam in Laos’s Lower Mekong River. Laos first signalled its intention to move ahead with the proposed 912-megawatt Pak ...
Experts call for water storage for Mekong Delta
Environmentalists have underscored the importance of finding ways to store and share water resources in the Mekong Delta as climate change is inflicting huge damage on the arable delta. At a seminar in Can Tho City on January 10, they agreed this was a measure to ...
Vietnam facing water security challenges
Vietnam’s demand for water is skyrocketing while water resources are being depleted, certain river basins are being overexploited and competition for water resources is soaring. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said in a report that the basins of some rivers like Ma, Huong and ...
The Salween Peace Park: a radical, grassroots alternative to development in Karen State
A path has opened for environmental conservationists and rights advocates to strengthen their fight against gold mining and other socially and environmentally destructive projects in the rich forests of Karen State in eastern Myanmar: the Salween Peace Park. The 5,200-square-kilometer Peace Park is a radical ...
The Dammed Don: Lao hydropower project pushes ahead despite alarm from scientists
Snaking down the length of the Mekong River the beautifully detailed map looks strikingly like those marking the distribution of unexploded ordnance in Laos. The red dots that pockmark the course of the river, from its origins in the highlands of China to its outlet ...
Farewell to Vo Quy, Vietnam's hero of the environment
Vietnam’s Professor Vo Quy has passed away in Hanoi at age 87. The well-known and well-loved zoologist had a storied career that spanned decades and, even in his 80s, he was still working and busy, as passionate as ever. I met Professor Vo Quy in Hanoi ...
Wildlife group extends support for National Protected Area
The Wildlife Conservation Society-Laos Programme will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to conserve the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area ecosystem. An agreement on the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area Management and Tiger Conservation Project Phase 5 was ...
Palm oil projects destroy local livelihoods: report
More than 1.8 million acres of palm oil plantations in Myanmar’s southern Tenasserim Division do more harm than good for local Karen villagers, causing land conflict, damaging livelihoods, destroying biodiversity, and polluting the environment, according to a new report. Companies and businesspeople have taken over ...
