Environment and natural resources
Across Thailand, a cruel drought takes terrible toll
In Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district, the Lam Luk Ka-Thanya Buri Road in Moo 8 of Tambon Lat Sawai has been damaged by subsidence, causing a 1.5-metre-deep and 100-metre-long section to collapse yesterday, prompting authorities to close the road as a safety precaution. In Chon ...
Auctions of illegal timber to resume, officials say
Top officials on 9 May said the government would be auctioning off some of the 70,000 cubic meters of wood authorities have seized in recent months, backtracking on a recent pledge Hun Sen made to stop the sales. In a surprise move at the Education Ministry’s annual ...
New support to protect Lao wetlands from climate change
The Global Environment Facility has pledged US$4.7 million to protect Lao wetlands from climate change. Laos has defined two wetland areas under the Ramsar Convention on ‘Wetlands of International Importance’ which covers all aspects of wetland conservation and wise use. These wetland areas are Xe Champone in ...
HCM City needs over $22m to control air pollution
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment has built a project on an air quality observation center in the phase 2016-2020, which will need a total fund of VND495 billion (U$22.18 million) to build 27 automatic and 200 semiautomatic observation stations.Keep ...
Fires burn large parts of Battambang forest
Fires have consumed more than 2,000 hectares of Prek Toal protected area in Cambodia’s Battambang province, killing some animals and destroying the breeding sites of multiple endangered species, Prek Toal project managers said on 5 May.Keep reading ...
Ten Vientiane industrial plants discharging unclean water
The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment of Laos has confirmed that 10 industrial plants in Vientiane are discharging unclean and untreated water, some of which contains potentially harmful chemicals. Director General of the ministry’s Department of Pollution Control, Mr Khamphanh Nanthavong, addressed the issue on ...
Drought exacerbates hoof and mouth outbreak among cattle
A vaccine campaign has been launched in response to an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease exacerbated by drought conditions in Kampong Thom province, officials said yesterday, as drought-relief efforts continued in Banteay Meanchey.Chan Panhavoan, director of the veterinary office of the Kampong Thom provincial ...
Mekong Delta loses half of silt to upstream dams: scientists
Scientists said the Mekong Delta is suffering from the cumulative impacts of saltwater intrusion, erosion and declining groundwater levels as a result of El Nino and the upstream dams. Tran Cong Lap is among many farmers who are well aware of the impacts said “Saltwater has been ...
Scenes from a drought
Across the country of Cambodia, water scarcity is threatening health and livelihoods. In what may be the worst regional drought in more than 50 years, brought on by an El Niño cycle exacerbated by climate change, water shortages have been declared in 18 of the ...
Vietnam tells Taiwan firm to dig up waste pipe amid "red tide" disaster
Vietnam has told owners of a Taiwanese-built steel plant to dig up a controversial waste pipe, even after it found no evidence tying its discharge to mass fish deaths that have triggered health fears and public anger. Environment Minister Tran Hong Ha declared illegal the waste ...
