Environment and natural resources
EIA exposed – the campaign against Myanmar’s teak trade accused of making false allegations against innocent timber trader
A London-based campaign group which achieved international headlines by alleging massive corruption in Myanmar’s timber industry now stands accused of getting its facts wrong. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) claimed in its report State of Corruption: the top-level conspiracy behind the global trade in Myanmar’s stolen ...
Xieng Khuang cracks down on illegal logging and corrupt officials
Authorities in Xieng Khuang province are investigating more officials allegedly involved in taking bribes in connection with the illegal timber trade which has caused great damage to the nation. The provincial Governor, Mr Bounton Chanthaphone, told a news conference, which was held as part of a ...
Somsack Pongkhao
Conference promotes cooperation to protect Mekong River
A conference on how to enhance cooperation in protecting the Mekong River via smarter water energy planning approaches and wide application of renewable energy throughout the Mekong region was held in Hanoi on June 28. The event was jointly organised by the Stimson Centre, the International Union for ...
The Waste Land
Sitting outside the recycling facility that houses her business and family, Kim Mouy, 51, who also goes by Mae Kamouy, watches over her workers as they churn through Phnom Penh’s trash. She is perched upon a wooden stump opposite an unstable heap of black plastic – ...
Evie Breese and Thim Rachna
Mekong Delta faces severe climate risks
Nguyễn Hữu Thiện, talks to the newspaper Thanh Niên (Young People) on the eco-system in the Mekong Delta and threats from climate change. How do you assess the importance of the Government’s Resolution 120 on Sustainable and Climate Resilient Development of the Mekong Delta in the regional development? The Government’s Resolution 120 ...
It’s not just melting glaciers that endanger the Mekong and its region
Recent reports of a rapid diminishment in the size of the glaciers that feed the great rivers of Asia, including the Mekong, have received wide coverage, not least because they are accompanied by striking visuals. What is happening at the other end of the river in the ...
Milton Osborne
Norway funded Cambodia’s project on biodiversity
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) funded the project launched by Cambodia’s National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) with the technical assistance from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Biodiversity Finance Initiative is the name of the project launced on June 20. This project is expected ...
Nilobon Bantoey
Will the Mekong Delta sink by 2100?
The Mekong Delta loses 300 hectares of land each year because of river and coastline erosion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). “The total land area lost in the last 10 years has reached over 3,000 hectares,” Tang Quoc Chinh from the ...
The EU and Laos conclude the third formal negotiation towards an agreement on combating illegal logging and promoting trade in legal timber products
The European Union (EU) and Laos held their third round of face-to-face negotiations on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). The talks took place in Brussels, Belgium from 17-21 June 2019. The Agreement aims to establish a system ...
China’s potash demand stirs resistance in rural Thailand
The future of a potash mine planned for north-eastern Thailand is mired in uncertainty as villagers put up fierce opposition, fuelled by concerns about their livelihoods, health and environment. Last year a group led by local women blocked access to exploratory drilling sites in the Wanon ...
Yodsapon Kerdviboon, Visarut Sankham