Environment and natural resources
Fishing curbs pledged for Mandalay Lake
The Mandalay regional government will cease issuances of new commercial fishing licenses for Taungthaman Lake in a bid to conserve the body of water. Aung Maung, development affairs minister for Mandalay Division, announced the plan during the 13th regular session of the Mandalay divisional parliament on ...
Dams 'destroying Mekong fish stock'
Fishermen in delta and Northeast Thailand say dams in China and Laos have hit breeding and yields, forcing many to quit. Mekong River fishermen have already suffered dramatically from dams and irrigation works, which have decimated fish stocks and undermined livelihoods that supported families for generations.Nguyen Anh ...
Lao loggers backed by corrupt officials pillaged Champassak forests in July
Illegal logging in southern Laos’ Champassak province was particularly devastating on forests in July, according to a local police officer, who said businessmen working in tandem with high-ranking officials raced to cut timber in the region ahead of the start of the rainy season. The police ...
Thailand’s Mekong water-diversion plan raises concerns
The Thai government’s statement in late July that it is considering bringing water from the Mekong, Moei and Salween rivers to farmland to nine of its provinces has raised major concerns. The water diversion has been described as a move to ‘extract blood from the Mekong’s ...
France repatriates 150 smuggled rare tortoises seized on route to Laos
Some 150 rare tortoises are to be returned to Madagascar by French customs, who seized them in December while they were being smuggled to Laos. The reptiles needed several months of intensive care after being transported hidden in cases of sea cucumbers. Keep reading ...
Vietnamese students win top prize with Mekong video
In their efforts to save the Mekong River, a team of young Vietnamese students from Can Tho University have won the first prize in the 2015 ASEAN Youth Video Contest. Seven youths represented Vietnam at the ASEAN Youth camp in last May in Singapore, in the ...
Coal-caked home shows danger of Vietnam’s cheap power
After Quang Ninh province’s worst torrential rains in four decades, residents still face lingering danger. Toxic run-off from an open-pit coal mine left a trail of contamination, from local streams to the emerald waters of Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site whose islets attract more than 1 ...
Vietnamese plea to Thailand: Don't divert the Mekong
People in Vietnam hope Thailand will reconsider its plan to divert water from the Mekong, because it would seriously affect their ability to produce food. The Mekong Delta is Vietnam’s most important agricultural area. Each year, the area produces the most rice and fruit in the country. This region ...
Phu Quoc forests, farm lands may have to give way for casino, resort
Authorities in the southern province of Kien Giang are seeking the government’s permission to allocate more than 2,000 hectares of farm and forest land in Phu Quoc for tourism projects. Keep reading ...
Study links polluted air in China to 1.6 million deaths a year
Outdoor air pollution contributes to the deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people in China every year, or about 4,400 people a day, according to a newly released scientific paper. The paper maps the geographic sources of China’s toxic air and concludes that much of the smog that ...
