Environment and natural resources

Lao and international fish experts are set to discuss ways to promote greater fisheries productivity in the region to push for food security, at an upcoming conference scheduled to take place in Vientiane. The International Fishway Conference scheduled to take place from November 14-17 will ...

Poachers are defying the law and risking imprisonment by continuing to use electric-shock methods to stun and catch fish, conservationists say. They say the practise is inflicting serious damage on the ecosystems of the Ayeyarwady River. The use of batteries to stun fish, as well ...

Plastic firms in Việt Nam face fierce competition and risk being acquired by foreign companies, experts said on November 2 at a conference in HCM City. Phạm Văn Bắc, deputy head of the construction ministry’s department of building materials, said the plastic industry had the potential ...

The population of critically endangered Mekong River Dolphins – Irrawaddy Dolphins – in the Cheuteal trans-boundary pool between southern Laos and northern Cambodia has shrunk by 50 percent this year and the population is functionally extinct in Laos. World Wildlife Fund survey teams from Laos and ...

Laos has abundant water resources that are among the main tourist attractions. But many of the country’s stunning waterfalls and cascades are unknown to visitors, including Kaengkou waterfall in Vapy district, Saravan province. This attractive landscape of flat rocks and large pools is one of ...

Conservation groups used to fight for environmental impact assessments or EIAs to be carried out before big government development projects. Today, that fight has been partly won with government agencies commissioning such assessments to scope out the environmental impact of big projects, such as the ...

The warm welcome afforded Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, here on November 2 underscores Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s eagerness to counter Chinese overtures to a country, like the Philippines, of great geopolitical importance in Southeast Asia. Abe greeted Suu Kyi at the ...

Scanning the regional landscape on November 3, South-east Asian states ought to be quite optimistic about the state of ASEAN-China relations just as the year closes on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of their dialogue partnership. ASEAN and China have agreed to a series of ...

Some 800 meters above sea level and more than 100km from the nearest ocean, thousands of red sea bream thrive in the mountains of central Japan. Despite being far from their usual habitat, the fish are growing at a healthy rate in their large round ...

The Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research is ready to continue assisting people’s tree plantings in northern Luang Prabang province and will also extend support to the wood processing sector in Laos. The extension in support comes after the ACIAR project achieved success in the ...