Environment and natural resources

The Mekong River is Southeast Asia’s beating heart, coursing almost 5,000 km through China, where it is known as the Lancang River, and onward through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before entering Vietnam and flowing into the sea. More than 70 million people rely on the ...

The table we’re writing on is made of rosewood, the most trafficked wildlife product in the world. For months, we’ve been researching the uptick in logging and poaching, which are gradually emptying out the forests here in Cambodia as well as neighboring Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, ...

A total of 108,258 ha of forest were planted in the first six months, up 22 percent on-year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, during the period, the entire nations prepared nearly 650 million saplings for afforestation, an annual increase of 43 percent. To ...

Thailand will push ahead with another attempt to secure Unesco World Heritage site status for the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex at the annual World Heritage Convention this month, said Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. The country’s largest national park, covering a 2.9-million rai ...

A new regulation signed into law in March this year but only unveiled publicly in May will see almost 127,000 hectares (313,800 acres) of previously protected land in Cambodia made available for sale or rent, prompting fears among conservationists about a land grab for some ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat has urged the wider exchange of data and information as part of recommendations to improve water resource management in the Lower Mekong Basin, in a bulletin released today. The 18-page Situation Report encourages MRC Member Countries and Dialogue Partners to share ...

Tanintharyi, Myanmar’s portion of the spit of land that splits the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea, is still swathed in old growth rainforest home to a unique medley of animals and plants – some of which are endangered and found nowhere else on ...

Southeast Asia is home to roughly half of the world’s tropical mountain forests. These highland ecosystems support massive carbon stores and tremendous biodiversity, including a host of species that occur nowhere else on the planet. But new evidence suggests these havens are in grave danger. ...

Thai Nguyen has wrapped up an inspection over the outdoor mountain of hazardous waste. Tisco’s waste was mostly from its two subsidiaries – Luu Xa steel mill and the pig iron mill. The former makes ingot steel with the capacity of 450,000 tons per annum, using ...

The report was based on a survey carried out across 20 provinces and cities nationwide in 2019-20. Vietnam is viewed as a hotspot for transportation and consumption of wildlife products of the world. Despite the Government’s efforts to prevent the illegal trade after COVID-19 broke out, ...