Environment and natural resources
Project review assesses progress of flood risk mitigation
Over 61,000 people in Vientiane will benefit from the Flood and Drought Risk Management and Mitigation Project (FDM) after its completion, a review meeting heard on Friday. The project has been improving flood and drought risk management on more than 20,000 hectares of land, reduced ...
Diversify food sources, experts tell forum
Cambodia needs to diversify its food sources and improve marine conservation efforts amid dwindling numbers of fish stocks in the Mekong River, which remains one of the main sources of fish for Cambodians, experts said on March 30. During a Sustainable Mekong Research Network (Sumernet) forum ...
Protected birds come under threat
A protected bird species has come under renewed threat after land-grabbers invaded Preah Vihear province’s Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary and destroyed their habitat. The lesser adjutant is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Protection of its nests started ...
Sơn Trà master plan needs amending
The central city plans to petition the Prime Minister for adjustments to the Sơn Trà Master Plan in order to better protect the eponymous nature reserve. Đà Nẵng Deputy Chairman Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn also said at a press conference on Monday that the city will ...
Capital still struggling with waste
Phnom Penh deputy governor Ieng Aunny on March 28 acknowledged that the capital continues to struggle with waste management despite recent decentralisation measures, laying the blame with districts’ and communes’ lack of awareness of their new responsibilities, as well as what he characterised as contractor ...
Exports of logs double in 2016
Despite a ban on the export of timber to Vietnam and the creation of a much-publicised anti-logging task force, Cambodia last year still exported nearly $33 million dollars’ worth of unprocessed logs to its eastern neighbour, a volume more than double that of 2015, according ...
Illegal logging groups arrested
Eleven Vietnamese men and two Cambodian men have been arrested for border crossing offenses and logging in protected forests. Interior Ministry immigration police officer Bun Chantha said the Cambodians and seven of the Vietnamese were arrested in Rattanakiri province’s Lumphat district on March 27. The provincial ...
Thanh Hoa factory fined for polluted discharge
A tapioca starch production plant in central Thanh Hoa Province has been fined VND310 million (US$13,710) for polluting the environment. The Ba Thuoc plant, located in Ba Thuoc District’s Thiet Ong Commune, was found to be discharging wastewater into Ma River with pollutants exceeding the ...
Mass shrimp deaths in Tra Vinh
Changeable weather and careless farming in Tra Vinh Province has caused pollution and killed a large number of shrimp in the area. As of March, Tra Vinh had over 7,000 households raising nearly 600 million black tiger shrimp and 2,240 households raising 524 million white leg ...
Forestry agreement inked as Laos, China pursue sustainable resource development
Bilateral cooperation for sustainable and forestry industry development is set to expand following the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos and State Forestry Administration of China. Cooperation is set to cover seven main areas such as afforestation, forest ...