Environment and natural resources
Rights group asks for land data sharing
Rights group Licadho has called on the government to make available statistics on the full extent of economic land concessions in response to data collected by the organisation over five years. Keep reading ...
IFC to lead sustainable hydro in Myanmar
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed to advise the government on environmental and social risk management for hydropower projects nationwide. This is the first time anything like this will be done in Myanmar. Commentators say they hope it will serve as the basis for transparent ...
7 more bears saved from Vietnamese farms
Animal rights activists on 22 September rescued seven bears from farms in northern Vietnam in their efforts to save the animal from the local bear bile extraction industry. Members of a Hong Kong-based animal welfare group brought the bears to Vietnam’s biggest bear sanctuary at Tam Dao National ...
Report finds economic land concessions affected 17K families
Community representatives, civil society organisations and opposition members have urged the government for more urgent action to resolve land disputes following the release of annual data showing that all 24 provinces were affected in 2014, with hundreds of cases still unresolved. The call came at the launch ...
Lao officials fail to enforce government ban on timber exports
A recent ban on the export of raw logs imposed by the Lao government to increase the value of processed wood products is not being enforced in the country’s southern provinces because some national leaders are involved in timber smuggling, a civil society official with ...
Groups slam dam go-ahead
Advocacy groups on 21 September voiced their “strong disappointment” over the approval of the concession agreement for the controversial Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos. Keep reading ...
Vietnamese rubber giant makes deal with Cambodian villagers
A “major breakthrough” has been reached in discussions between Vietnamese rubber giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai and 11 indigenous communities in Ratanakkiri province that have lost land and resources to the company’s plantations. During a three-day meeting with community representatives, NGOs and its own subsidiaries, the ...
Vietnamese environment group voices concerns over Mekong dam
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 prepares for UN climate change talks in Paris
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 ...
Vietnam expels Chinese man for illegal mass earthworm hunting
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 ...
