Environment and natural resources

An environmental watchdog based in Vietnam is asking the Laos government to reconsider the construction of a controversial hydropower plant along the Mekong River. The non-governmental organisation Vietnam River Network issued a press release on 18 September stating that the Don Sahong project, the second largest ...

Vietnam is quickly finishing the Intended National Determined Contributions to participate in the 21st Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, set to be held in Paris this December. Countries across the global have committed to create a new international ...

Quang Tri border guards have deported a Chinese man who had asked locals to help him hunt earthworms using an illegal chemical and promised to buy the crawl for a high price.   Gan DeQiang, 40, was also fined VND16 million (US$712) for his violations, according to ...

Timber extracted from Myanmar’s frontier forests is flowing into China in illegal transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to a report published on 17 September. The research, by the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and partly financed by the UK, the European ...

Honey may soon join wine and coffee as among Shan State’s best-known local commodities, as production grows. Myanmar is set to export about 3500 tonnes of the sweet stuff this year, and experts say the “Made in Myanmar” honey label may soon spread. Rabbi Yossi Ives, chief ...

More than 200 researchers and practitioners from around the world are attending a three-day conference on sustainable manufacturing in the southern province of Binh Duong.   The 13th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, from 16-18 September, offered keynote speeches, panel discussions with parallel sessions on sustainable approaches ...

The construction of a dam in Laos is endangering the ecosystem of the Mekong river, one of the world’s largest rivers running a length of 5,000 km (3,107 miles) and a source of life and livelihood for millions living along its banks. The dam threatens the ...

As Udon Thani environmentalists expressed their objection to a public meeting on mining concessions being held at a military camp, Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC) was one step closer to applying for the mining licence. APPC executive Woravudh Hiranyapaisansakul said the public meeting in Non Sung district ...

Military police in Kompong Chhnang province said they found 290 kg of rosewood in the back of an SUV with military license plates on 14 September but failed to apprehend the driver, who escaped in a car that had been following his. Keep reading ...

The Vietnam Administration of Forestry and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Co-oporation and Development have launched the “Programme on Conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity and ecosystems services in Vietnam”. Keep reading ...