Environment and natural resources
Beijing saves Mekong islets
The revelation that China is backing away from its plans to blow up islands and outcroppings in the Mekong River is welcome news. Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said he had raised the issue last month during a visit by Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. It is ...
Lack of clarity on scrapping Mekong rapids blasting raises concerns
Environmentalists and local people along the Mekong River in Thailand remain uneasy over previously proposed plans to blast the Mekong River rapids, inspite of a Foreign Ministry assurance that the navigation channel improvement project had been scrapped. Keep reading ...
Mekong Conservation Groups in Chiang Rai Want Written Proof that Blasting Project Scrapped
Members of the Rak Chiang Khong Conservation Group and other environmentalists still remain uneasy despite Thailand’s Foreign Ministry assurance that the navigation channel improvement project had been scrapped. Rak Chiang Khong and residents along the Mekong river are asking that the Thai Government make an official ...
ASEAN lacks crucial data on air pollution
A large portion of the population in Southeast Asia do not have proper information on the air they breathe every day. While an analysis of air pollution readings from Greenpeace and AirVisual found that 95 percent of Southeast Asian cities surveyed exceeded the World Health Organization’s ...
Women’s rights and river protection
Usually at this time of year during the dry season in northern Thailand, the Mekong River recedes, and sand and pebble beaches appear. Covering the pebbles, through the clear and shallow water, one can see the pale green kai, a river weed of the Mekong. This ...
Some 331 species are endangered in Myanmar
More than 5,000 species are endangered in Asia, around 800 in the Greater Mekong region alone. Plants and wildlife are used to produce traditional medicines, clothes and accessories. Hunting and poaching are practiced in about 70 pe cent of sanctuaries. In Southeast Asia and the ...
Governing the Ayeyarwady
THE CONTINUING conundrum over Myitsone, concern among farmers over river bank erosion in the dry zone and the delta and reports of declining riverine resources in Sagaing Region all indicate the need for coherent and coordinated governance of the Ayeyarwady River. The decision by President ...
EU study boost fight against illegal wildlife trade in Mekong region
The European Union has launched an intensive study about the illegal wildlife trade in the Greater Mekong Region and its threat to biodiversity. The report, entitled “Larger than Tigers”, hopes to encourage the Greater Mekong countries, which include Myanmar, to intensify efforts against the illegal wildlife ...
Are We Seeing the Mekong River's 'Last Days'?
In the introduction to his new book, Brian Eyler cautions that “the reader should not get the impression from the book’s title that the Mekong River is in its death throes.” Yet 320 pages later, he signs off with a warning: “Unless we begin today ...
Mekong delta faces severe salinization
Early March, gradual saltwater intrusion in coastal provinces in the Mekong Delta is threatening to the primary production system and daily activities. Thousands of inhabitants in Ben Tre and Kien Giang are suffering from scarcity of safe drinking water and daily activities. Keep reading ...
