Environment and natural resources

A new study from an international team of researchers has looked at how residents in Vietnam and Kenya perceive those forced to migrate because of extreme climates. The research team, including Dr. Quynh Nguyen from The Australian National University (ANU) say climate-induced migration is becoming more ...

Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam requested Lao PDR to conduct rigorous transboundary impact assessments and enhance proposed measures to mitigate potential adverse impacts from the 1,460-megawatt Luang Prabang hydropower project, as the Mekong River Commission concluded a six-month prior consultation process for the project. At a ...

Laos is pushing ahead with a hydropower project on the Mekong River, despite reservations aired by neighbouring countries over its potential to harm fisheries and farming downstream, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on Wednesday. The 1,400-megawatt (MW) Luang Prabang project will be Laos’s third and ...

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen released an open letter Thursday reporting a 73 percent increase in deforestation in 2019 at the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, compared to 2018, while criticizing the government’s ban on certain patrolling operations. The University of Copenhagen’s open letter used data ...

Water levels in Southeast Asia’s largest river may be at its lowest in a century. Low rainfall, high temperatures and poor dam regulations are contributing to a historic low at the Mekong, affecting lives, the region’s agriculture and fishing industries and leading to rapidly drying taps. Chinese ...

The Department of Climate Change under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment cooperated with the French Development Agency (AFD) in organising a seminar in Hanoi on June 24 to review the implementation of the national strategy and action plan on climate change and propose orientations to cope with ...

A total of 36 rai of forest on Sankalakhiri mountain range in Chanae district of this southern province has been illegally cleared by encroachers, forest protection officials said. Acting on information from local villagers, Gen Jatuporn Kalampasut, director of the intelligence office of the Region 4 ...

Indigenous groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on Thursday dismissed a recent directive from Cambodia’s government ordering local authorities to end illegal logging, calling the move a “show” aimed at mending its reputation of being too soft on forest crimes. On June 19, Minister of Agriculture Veng ...

FOR MORE THAN a century, scientists considered banded langurs, a type of reclusive, tree-dwelling monkey, to be a single species—but new research points to three separate ones. They’ve been hiding in plain sight, due to differences that couldn’t be readily observed. Found throughout Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, ...

The Governments of Myanmar and Finland today launched a trailblazing project designed to allow for monitoring of forests in a manner that is sensitive to local conflicts and protects human rights. The five-year project will be led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United ...