Environment and natural resources

In his second visit within 9 months, the Foreign Secretary has met counterpart Vietnamese Foreign Minister, Minister Bui Thanh Son, to discuss the implementation of the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Agreement, in addition to subjects such as the global health security, climate change and Myanmar. The visit ...

Members of a large fishing community in Naxab village, Naxaithong district, Vientiane, are appealing to authorities to address the problem of farms dumping animal waste in the Khon River, which they say is creating a threat to fishing. The polluted river affects some 1,648 people who ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has recorded river levels increasing by 0.65m between Stung Treng and Prey Veng’s Neak Loeung over the last seven days and forecast an additional rise this week of 0.60m due to torrential rain. Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) water levels have ...

The Greater Mekong, a transnational region in Southeast Asia, spans six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The region is home to more than 325 million people and, while it has survived the trauma of wars, it now faces mounting environmental threats from ...

The level of the Mekong river is rising steadily in this northeastern province, between 30 centimetres and one metre per day, following heavy rain during the past week. On Wednesday morning, the river was 6m deep and about 6m below the spill-over point. After an inspection on ...

For Southeast Asian countries, the meaning of regional connectivity and integration goes beyond their vision of development and economic progress. Interconnectedness also applies when discussing disasters and environmental degradation. One example is transboundary haze, the top-of-mind term for the raging forest fires on Sumatra or Kalimantan ...

Previously secretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry for the Cambodian government, Pou Sothirak is executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. He is a tireless campaigner for the ecology and communities of the Lower Mekong and particularly Tonle Sap, Southeast ...

A plan to construct seven dams in one of mainland Southeast Asia’s last intact forest systems could cause widespread habitat loss and sever important wildlife corridors, activists warn. The Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) Forest Complex is a vast and biodiverse region that spans six provinces in ...

Myanmar’s military regime will hold further timber auctions on June 23 and 24 as it seeks to raise hard currency to fund its coup. Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), the state-run entity which controls Myanmar’s timber sales, held three separate auctions in late May in which nearly ...

As dam-building projects continue to proliferate along Southeast Asia’s vital Mekong River, experts in a recent online discussion panel agreed that the area is fast becoming overloaded with them, dredging up far-reaching issues ranging from international friction and industry “water grabs” to widespread ecological disasters ...