Environment and natural resources
How a Frenzied Race to Harness the Mekong Turned Deadly
Stretching from its headwaters in the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau to its endpoint in the delta marshes of Vietnam, the mighty Mekong River is one of the world’s great ecosystems. For Laos, it represents so much more: the energy source behind an ambitious hydro-power buildout and ...
Lao dam collapse will not affect Mekong Delta: expert
The Xe Pian – Xe Namnoy hydropower dam in southern Laos, which collapsed on the night of July 23, will not affect Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, according to Associate Professor Le Anh Tuan, head of the Climate Change Research Institute under the Can Tho University. Keep ...
Environment Hazards of Intensive Shrimp Farming on Mekong Delta
Vietnam either has to change the way it approaches shrimp farming or face the loss of hundreds of hectares of land. Shrimp farmer Nguyen Manh Hung lost his entire farm to erosion in 2016 after a series of ravaging droughts and floods. He and his ...
Government rips into WWF report
The Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Administration spokesman Keo Omaliss hit back on Thursday at a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report that claims the Greater Mekong will lose 30 percent of its forests by 2030 without drastic action. He said the claims do not accurately reflect ...
Greater Mekong region tries to stop devastation
The Greater Mekong region, once the world’s most densely forested area, has lost a third of its natural forest cover and will lose another third by 2030 unless action is taken immediately, according to a new World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report. Keep reading ...
Environmental changes in the Mekong Delta spell trouble for farmers
The Mekong Delta is home to 15 million people, many of whom rely on the delta’s rich soil and water resources for farming and fishing. But their livelihoods are being threatened by rising sea levels, droughts, dams, and other hydrological shifts. A new article from ...
Air Pollution Remains Cause for Alarm in Asia
At the start of the year the pollution in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, reached six times the World Health Organization’s guideline levels for air quality. Yet the levels, which appear higher than those of South Korea’s capital Seoul—where most people monitor the air pollution levels daily—is ...
Landslides, erosions encircle Mekong Delta
Landslides in the Mekong Delta have occurred in over 560 riverside and coastal areas with a total length of 786 kilometers. These include 42 serious landslide-stricken areas, 148 kilometers in length, that need urgent treatment to save people’s lives and assets. Keep reading ...
No major flooding mishaps despite rising Mekong waters, says Ministry
Water levels have been rising in Stung Treng, Kratie, Tbong Khmum, Kampong Cham and Battambang provinces over the past two weeks, but so far floods have not had a serious impact, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said. Its spokesman Chan Yutha told The ...
Southeast Asia's Tigers Show Slight Revival But Remain Under Pressure
According to the best estimates, some 100,000 tigers used to roam through parts of Asia. But that was more than a century ago. Today, experts estimate that worldwide only some 3,800 tigers have survived in the wild. This marks a slight improvement for the big ...