Environment and natural resources
Biodiversity
New Species Discoveries in 2016
A crocodile lizard that has been turned into a cartoon character, a snail-eating turtle discovered in a Thai food market and a horseshoe bat that would not look out of place in a Star Wars movie are just three of the 115 new species discovered ...
Risk to endangered clouded leopards grows as smuggling rises
The smuggling of organs from clouded leopards has been rising and warrants immediate action to protect the big cat, environmentalists say.[]Clouded leopards have been seen only in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Bhutan and China.Keep reading ...
Eleven Reporter
Orphaned Myanmar elephants blanketed against cold
When an unexpectedly cold front from China descended on parts of Southeast Asia this past week, people in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia bundled up in coats to stave off the region’s unusual weather. But what’s an elephant to do?Keep reading ...
The Bangkok Post Reporter
Cambodia’s fisheries at risk due to hydropower development on Mekong, MRC warns
Hydropower development will likely deal a serious economic blow to Cambodia, with dire outlooks for its fisheries and rice outputs predicted even under best-case scenarios, according to key findings from the Mekong River Commission (MRC).Keep reading ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
Crocodile lizard is one of 115 new species found in Greater Mekong
A snail-eating turtle found in a food market and a bat with a horseshoe-shaped face are among 115 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region. A report from the conservation charity WWF reveals that three new mammals, 11 amphibians, two fish, 11 reptiles and 88 ...
The Guardian Reporter
A Bright Future in Cambodia’s Energy Sector?
Rather than ecologically harmful dams, Cambodia should explore solar power to fill its energy gap.[] One such project is the proposed Sambor Dam, to be located on the Mekong River’s mainstream at Sambor town, Kratie province, Cambodia. This would be one of eleven large hydropower dams ...
Sabrina Gyorvary
Laos is 'world's fastest growing' ivory market
The fastest growing ivory market in the world is now Laos, according to an investigation by Kenya-based group Save the Elephants. China is banning all ivory trade by the end of 2017, but business is booming in neighboring countries. Investigators visited a Chinese casino resort ...
Alastair Leithead
App combines computer vision and crowdsourcing to explore Earth’s biodiversity, one photo at a time
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was developed in large part from the observations and collections of plants, animals and fossils that he made in the Galapagos islands and other stops during his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. However, Darwin was an amateur ...
Colleen O'Brien
Re-peeling the effects of degradation: low-tech application of orange crop waste shows potential to restore tropical forests
Researchers have come upon a new low-tech tropical forest restoration strategy, beginning with agricultural waste. They studied the effects on soil and forest health of the purposeful deposition of tons of processed orange peels and pulp on centuries-old rangeland remaining inside Guanacaste National Park in ...
Good quality monitoring surveys key to wildlife conservation: new study
A biodiversity crisis is looming upon us. We are now in the middle of a “sixth great extinction” of animal species, scientists warn, with loss of species about 1,000 times higher than it would have been without human impact.Nearly every country in the world has ...
