Environment and natural resources
EPF extends support to environmental protection
The Environmental Protection Fund has decided to forecast a budget of over 2.5 billion kip to support its environmental protection activities in four target provinces of LuangNamtha, Phongsaly, Oudomxay and Bokeo, all of which have ample natural resources and valuable preserved wildlife habitats in the north ...
UNESCO push will clear villagers off of Kulen Mountain
Hundreds of villagers living on Siem Reap’s historic Phnom Kulen are reeling after the government announced they would be relocated as part of a scheme to secure a UNESCO World Heritage Listing for the site. But one resident, 53-year-old Khev Kheng, who has lived there for ...
Urgent plans needed to adapt to climate change, rising sea levels
The historic drought this year affected 45,000 hectares of rice and crops, causing a loss of VND8.114 trillion in total. The drought and saline intrusion caused 2 million people to lack water for daily use, 1.75 million people to lose their livelihood, and put hundreds ...
Revenue gain not equal to forestry losses: Govt
Even though more than US$100 million has been generated in national revenue from the timber industry over the past 10 years, this is insufficient to compensate for the loss of the country’s forestry resources. Forestry officials said losses in revenue from the timber industry were ...
Mother nature activists released
The Koh Kong Provincial Court in Cambodia decided to suspend a year and a half sentence handed down to three activists from environmental NGO Mother Nature who have been in prison since last August – longer than the legal limit for pre-trial detention. The three ...
Foreign investors acquire 36 percent stake in Vietnam's power firm
As Vietnam works to promote renewable energy, its power sector is becoming increasingly attractive to foreign investors. In the latest deal, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, has bought a 16 percent stake in Gia Lai Electricity JSC, a major hydropower ...
Mineral exploitation pollutes towns, harms people's health
Mineral exploiters reap major benefits, but local residents living near the mines suffer as ore exploitation has negative consequences.On June 16, a red mud reservoir containing waste sludge from the titanium exploitation project of Tan Quang Cuong Company in Binh Thuan province broke down, leaving ...
Seizure of large quantities of illegal timber continues
With a crackdown announced on the illegal timber trade—and a proposed nationwide logging ban by the end of the fiscal year in March 2017—seizures of illegally cut logs have exceeded 10,000 tons in the first quarter from April to June. Myo Min, director of the Forestry ...
Prey Lang still logged: community
Continued widespread logging in the Prey Lang forest is evidence that the government’s recent push to have more than 400,000 hectares of land protected is toothless, according to activists as well as a Prey Lang Community Network report released on 29 June. The report’s purpose was ...
Prohibited rosewood seized en route to China
Police in Oudomxay province last week seized some 47 rosewood timbers and 25 partially-processed rosewoods weighing 2,534 kilogrammes in total loaded inside the container-like truck, which carried a Vientiane number plate reportedly being transported from Vientiane en route to China, a provincial police official said on ...
