News
Coronavirus: Vietnam bans wildlife trade over pandemic risk
Vietnam has banned the import of wildlife and wildlife products to reduce the risk of new pandemics. The move also bans wildlife markets for such items, including online sales. Vietnam has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the sale of products such as pangolin ...
Flood risk for one million in Phnom Penh as wetlands destroyed
More than one million people in Phnom Penh face the risk of increased flooding and loss of livelihoods as wetlands in the Cambodian capital are destroyed to build apartments and industries, human rights groups warned on Monday. Developments – including the ING City township – will ...
Rina Chandran
Mekong is at historical lows
The Mekong is once again at historical lows. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) gauge at Phnom Penh Port shows river level to be four metres below average for this time of year – and lower than last year’s record. This gauge is measuring river level on ...
Mark Hughes
New Covid-19 infection confirmed
A Korean electric technician of the Nam Ngieb hydropower project has tested positive for Covid-19, according to the Ministry of Health. Seventeen people who have close contact with him have been placed under a 14-day quarantine. The infection is the 20th case ever reported in the Lao ...
Locust swarm from China ravages northern Vietnam bamboo forests, corn fields
A locust swarm from China has been destroying bamboo forests and corn fields in Dien Bien Province in northern Vietnam since last week. The yellow-spined bamboo locust (Ceracris kiangsu) swarm, which has an estimated 100-400 individuals per square meter, devoured bamboo leaves in 20 ha of ...
Tat Dinh
Thailand’s rice exports slump to decade low
The Thai Rice Exporters Association cut its projection for 2020 rice exports from 7.5 million tonnes to 6.5 million tonnes, the lowest in a decade. Thailand shipped 3.14 million tonnes of rice in the first six months of this year, down 32.7% from the same period ...
Water wars: Mekong River another front in U.S.-China rivalry
The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river’s waters. It’s a confrontation in which the Trump administration – ...
Kay Johnson, Panu Wongcha-um
Will Vietnam’s new energy policy mark a turning point for coal?
Vietnam’s government faces crucial choices as it draws up a new national energy plan for 2021-2030. Due to be published this summer, the Power Development Plan 8 will provide a vision for power supply up to 2045. Experts are hoping that Vietnam will use the ...
Michael Tatarski
Vietnam’s Prime Minister issues new wildlife directive, shows strong leadership in protecting species and global health
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc today issued a new directive with urgent and powerful measures to restrict wildlife trade and consumption, and reduce further pandemic risk. With immediate effect, the directive (29/CT-TTg) bans imports of live wild animals and wildlife products, strictly eliminates any wildlife ...
WildAid
$1M grant from Luce Foundation launches interdisciplinary program on. Mekong Sustainability
A Michigan State University interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff is working to foster environmental justice in Southeast Asia. The Henry Luce Foundation’s Initiative on Southeast Asia, or LuceSEA, is providing $1 million in funding to help create the Mekong Culture WELL project. The Lower Mekong ...
Lois Furry, Amanda Flaim
