Environment and natural resources
Environment and natural resources policy and administration
What role do nature-based solutions play in the Rohingya refugee crisis?
Over the last three years, the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf have been telling us many stories of failures, successes and uncertainties. These camps are a painful symbol of Myanmar’s atrocities against its own citizens, making them stateless. The government of Bangladesh, the ...
Haseeb Md Irfanullah
In Cambodia, a sweeping new environment code languishes in legal limbo
In Cambodia, the Mekong River winds past Southeast Asia’s largest remaining lowland evergreen forest before filling up Tonle Sap, the region’s largest freshwater lake. The river, lined with valuable sand, is home to an abundance of endangered species like the Mekong giant catfish and giant ...
Andrew Nachemson
Specialised zones in Phú Quốc Marine Protected Area adjusted
The Mekong Delta province of Kiên Giang has adjusted the zoning of the marine protected area of Phú Quốc National Park on Phú Quốc Island. Of the more than 40,909ha of the Phú Quốc Marine Protected Area, the strictly-protected zone covers more than 7,087ha, including some ...
VNS
Myanmar Condemns Report on Illegal Teak Exports to EU
Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has disputed the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)’s latest report which claims illegal teak from Myanmar is being shipped to Europe through the black market. “All the teak we export is legal,” U Kyaw Zaw Oo, the deputy ...
THIHA LWIN
Sanakam dam anger grows
A conservation group has called for the scrapping of the Sanakam dam which is being built in Laos on the Mekong River two kilometres from Nan province. The group urged Laos and neighbouring countries to embrace more ecological friendly renewable energy projects such as solar cells ...
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Vietnam drafts new law to protect environment
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà has said amending the Law on Environment Protection is urgent to ensure the country’s sustainable development. Presenting a draft for a new law to the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday (May 26), he said the current law ...
Sinking predicted for Mekong Delta region
The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, an area that helps feed about 200 million people, is predicted to sink underwater by 2100. In the past 25 years, Mekong Delta and the communities, cities and rice fields that depend on it, have faced grave risks of higher ...
NUOL project building capacity in environmental impact assessment
The Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the National University of Laos (NUOL) is reporting substantial progress in its project to build capacity in technical knowledge for environmental impact assessments (EIA). The project, running from 2018-2020, has been developing EIA training courses and textbooks for government staff, ...
Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Southeast Asia struggles to tackle haze despite long-term dangers
A toxic smog settled over Malaysia and Singapore for most of September fuelled by fires that had been raging in neighbouring Indonesia for weeks. Schools were forced to close, N95 masks to filter the polluted air’s most dangerous particulates were rationed, and doctors reported a surge in patients ...
Kate Mayberry
Ecstasy and The Environmental Impact of Illegal Drugs
The environmental impacts of cars, plastics and fossil fuels are well know. But what about illegal drugs? MDMA production is listed as an environmental threat. Due to the limited availability of a crucial ingredient, the drug is damaging the environment with its sourcing and production. MDMA, or ecstasy, is ...
Eliza Erskine
