Environment and natural resources
Hazy shade of winter
Waking up to a misty skyline resembling the mysterious town of Silent Hill, a survival horror video game, with the haze foreshadowing obscured dangers lurking in thick smog, is jarring for all Bangkok residents. The level of particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 ...
Dusida Worrachaddejchai, Suchit Leesa-Nguansuk & Piyachart Maikaew
New $212m financing for climate-friendly projects in Vietnam
A new financing package of $212.5 million (£162m) has been announced to support climate-friendly projects in Vietnam. The funding from IFC, a member of the World Bank, will enable VPBank to expand its lending to small and medium businesses and boost financing for projects that help reduce carbon ...
Priyanka Shrestha
Losing dolphins for more hydropower
The construction of the Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos has affected the habitats of Mekong River dolphins, causing their numbers to dwindle in Stung Treng province. The dwindling numbers are causing a decline in tourists who wish to see them, resulting in loss of ...
Pech Sotheary
Sinking predicted for Mekong Delta region
The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, an area that helps feed about 200 million people, is predicted to sink underwater by 2100. In the past 25 years, Mekong Delta and the communities, cities and rice fields that depend on it, have faced grave risks of higher ...
Mekong Delta takes measures to cope with saltwater intrusion
Saltwater intrusion has occurred on a large scale in the Mekong Delta, forcing local authorities to take measures to protect agricultural production and ensure water supply for household use, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Saltwater intrusion has affected many provinces like Tiền ...
‘No fish’: How dams and climate change are choking Asia’s great lake
For more than half a century, January meant prime fishing season for Pang Bin. He took his wooden boat out into Cambodia’s largest lake, his catches and their sales sustaining his family for much of the year. This month, the 75-year-old decided to call it quits, ...
Shashank Bangali
River deltas are changing shape
Deforestation and damming have altered the shape of river deltas across the globe, contributing to a net 54 square kilometres of land gained per year over the past three decades, according to a study published in the journal Nature. These landforms are home to hundreds of millions of people, ...
Natalie Parletta
Recognition of Public Health Threats from Live Animal Markets Called for in the Wake of Human Coronavirus Outbreak
Closing live animal markets that trade in wildlife, strengthening efforts to combat trafficking of wild animals, and working to change dangerous wildlife consumption behaviours are all needed, said the leading wildlife conservation group, WCS. With the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) ...
Bungling govt is losing the PM2.5 war
Almost a month since hazardous ultra-fine PM2.5 dust particles began shrouding the capital, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha finally flexed his muscles this week by pledging to ban vehicles emitting black smoke from entering the city. “If dust levels exceed 100 microgrammes per cubic metre [µg/m³], the ...
Anchalee Kongrut
Courts charge Stung Treng men for transporting illegal timber
Stung Treng provincial police on Sunday sent one of seven men detained over the transportation of illegal timber to court. Provincial police chief Mao Dara said the Vietnamese man was sent to the provincial court after being accused of transporting nearly 200 pieces of beng timber ...
Soth Koemsoeun