Environment and natural resources
Offices of Mekong River Commission decamp to Laos
The Mekong River Commission’s secretariat in Phnom Penh – one of two for the group, charged with managing the river’s sustainable development – is being shuttered in favour of a single office in Vientiane, a decision that has provoked widespread concern among current and former ...
Southerners have new jobs thanks to rising levels of seawater
Sea water rise and saline intrusion have damaged crops this year, but they have offered opportunities for farmers to breed shrimp on rice fields. According to the Ca Mau provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, at first, when farmers began trying to breed shrimp, the ...
$120-million plant faces closure after mass fish deaths in Vietnam
The plant will only return to operations when environmental issues have been resolved. A soda ash manufacturer in the central province of Quang Nam has been reportedly killing fish for a year, and air and noise pollution caused by the plant has affected more than 400 ...
Certification ‘key’ to better forest management
Laos and Indonesia’s keen efforts to certify their logging industries have paved the way for access to wider markets, better timber prices, and less deforestation and illegal logging. Six timber-processing businesses in Laos have been certified and five million hectares of plantation forest has been certified ...
Laos, ASEAN take stocks to pursue goals on forest protection
Laos and other ASEAN member countries are pursuing efforts to meet common goals and address problems related to deforestation as well as promoting sustainable forest management. In his opening remarks at the 19th ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry on August 4, Deputy Minister of Agriculture ...
Mining companies must repair environmental damage: official Print
More than 1000 jade mining companies will be forced by law to clean up their sites in Hpakant and Lone Khin mining areas in Kachin State once their permits have expired, the government says. U Win Htein, director general of the Department of Mines, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, told The ...
SEZ polluting Bavet canal, villagers say
Villagers living along a canal in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet town say its water has been polluted by untreated discharge from the nearby Manhattan Special Economic Zone, rendering it unusable. Three communes live along the Tapov canal – Bati, Prasat and Bavet – with villagers from ...
‘An optimistic place to start’: Myanmar enacts national logging ban
According to environmental watchdogs, overexploitation of Myanmar’s forests have been driven by corruption and mismanagement in the country’s timber industry sector. They say the new ban is a big step in the right direction. “This is a decision that demonstrates clear intent to tackle corruption within ...
As Irrawaddy river swells, Mandalay prepares for possible flood
As the Irrawaddy River swells due to recent heavy rains, rising water levels are concerning to both locals and authorities in Mandalay, who are preparing for a possible flood. The river is about two feet above the 230.74-foot alert level in Mandalay Division. Local authorities have ...
Rough waters of Lower Sesan II dam
According to the Vietnam River Network, Lower Sesan II dam in Cambodia will impact both environmental and social aspects. Impacts will be felt not only around the project site but also from the upstream Sesan River to downstream at the Sekong River, Tonle Sap, Vietnam ...
