News
Last chance to see: paddling through time on the Mekong
Humility is a rare commodity in the era of the smartphone, selfies and carefully–coiffed digital personas. Gratitude, too, is unusual in the modern world where a sense of entitlement seems all pervasive. Despite most of us being aware enough to acknowledge that all human beings ...
VN Gov’t wants energy-efficient buildings
Việt Nam is going through a construction boom, with apartment and office buildings mushrooming, and energy efficiency is imperative, Nguyễn Công Thịnh, head of the Ministry of Construction’s science, technology and environment department, told a seminar in HCM City on December 5. “The ministry would like ...
Noise – the hidden killer in HCM City
Tens of millions of Saigonese not only suffer from the effects of waste water, hazardous waste and emissions, but also from noise. Medical experts say that noise has damaging effects – physiological, psychological and social. Physiologically, when noise exceeds acceptable levels, noise can cause ear injury ...
New funding programme to help improve ecosystems in Borikhamxay
The Wildlife Conservation Society Laos Programme will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to protect and conserve the unique and important species, habitats, and ecosystems in Borikhamxay province. An agreement on the Integrated Ecosystem and Wildlife Management Programme Phase 3 was signed ...
Hạ Long cement factory causing pollution
Many households in northern Quảng Ninh Province’s Hoành Bồ District have been forced to live with smoke and cement dust discharged from Hạ Long Cement Factory for years. This has seriously affected the lives of local residents and their cultivation activities. In the meantime, local ...
President outlines steps for green future

President U Htin Kyaw set out the government’s vision for the country’s transition to a green economy on November 29 in an opening address to the 5th Green Economy Green Growth Forum, held in Nay Pyi Taw. Six broad measures – including promoting the renewable energy sector, ...
Medical waste crisis in Tuyên Quang province

Medical waste is threatening the northern province of Tuyên Quang due to difficulties in treating the hazardous material at local healthcare facilities, said Deputy Director of the provincial Health Department, Đỗ Thị Ngọc Mai. She estimated that some 500kg of medical waste were discharged daily ...
New timber ban questioned

As of January, another of Cambodia’s highly traded varieties of rosewood will be protected by an international convention as an endangered species, but given past “dodgy trade”, observers are sceptical of how meaningful that protection will be. Demand from the Chinese market for Myanmarese rosewood ...
Ministry moves to close vine factory

The Environment Ministry has asked Koh Kong provincial governor Bun Leut to stop construction of a factory which will process an indigenous vine and which plans to collect the yellow vine in a protected forest area. According to an official letter sent to Mr. Leut ...
Gov’t mulls Japan-led facility for aquatic research

A committee will be established to look into the construction of a 5-hectare Japan-funded aquatic centre to facilitate the study of more than 600 species of freshwater fish from the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on November 25. “I have ...