Environment and natural resources
Cambodian Environmental Group Calls For End to Development on Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok Lake
Development on one of the last large lakes in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh is impacting communities that rely on it for their livelihoods and causing significant flooding in the city as the result of runoff during heavy rains, an environmental watchdog said Thursday, calling for ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The struggle for the soul of the Mekong River
In June of this year, the FAO’s annual State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report ranked the Mekong Basin as the world’s most productive freshwater fishery, accounting for over 15% of global annual freshwater fish catch. Meanwhile, WWF Researchers estimate that the contribution actually accounts ...
BRIAN EYLER, ALAN BASIST, COURTNEY WEATHERBY AND CLAUDE WILLIAMS
Cambodian satellite city near Phnom Penh destroying wetlands with 1 million at risk of flooding, report finds
A damning new report shows a multi-billion-dollar satellite city near Phnom Penh threatens to pave over vital wetlands and unleash untreated sewage into the Mekong River, putting more than 1 million people at risk of dangerous floods and water pollution. The project further threatens to upend ...
Erin Handley
The covert industry that is destroying the world’s rivers
Good sand is surprisingly hard to find, and some of the best — the kind used to make glass, concrete and even iPhones — is usually found only in riverbeds and along coasts. Now researchers are discovering that a global boom in sand mining is ...
ASEAN loses a third of mangroves in last 40 years
The ASEAN region lost about 33 per cent of its mangrove forests between 1980 and 2020, a decrease of more than 63,000sq km, said the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). Nations that comprise ASEAN have just around 43,000sq km of mangrove forests remaining. The ACB statement was ...
Khorn Savi
Drought, Dams on Mekong River Drop Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake to Record Low Levels
Climate change, drought, and upstream dams have led to record low water levels on the Mekong River, according to experts, who say the shortage is significantly harming Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding fishing communities who rely on it to earn a living. The water ...
Reported and translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Mekong Delta province unveils $820-mln plan to combat climate change
Ca Mau Province has presented a master plan to fight climate change impacts in the next decade that will cost an estimated VND19 trillion ($820 million). Vietnam’s southernmost province has come up with the plan for execution in 2020-30 that seeks to prevent natural disasters brought ...
Minh Minh
Can Vietnam Prevent the Next Pandemic?
A growing awareness of the links between wildlife trafficking and SARS, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases has prompted the Vietnamese prime minister to issue an executive order to clamp down on this vast smuggling trade in endangered species. During recent months, conservation NGOs and Hanoi’s Ministry ...
Tom Fawthrop
One million Cambodians under threat from development of vital wetlands – report
New sprawling development near Phnom Penh could prompt environmental catastrophe, including for the capital’s water systems. The destruction of critically-important wetlands by politically-connected developers in Cambodia threatens to flood more than one million Phnom Penh residents, ruin the city’s wastewater system, force hundreds of families from ...
Christopher Knaus
Coronavirus: Vietnam bans wildlife trade over pandemic risk
Vietnam has banned the import of wildlife and wildlife products to reduce the risk of new pandemics. The move also bans wildlife markets for such items, including online sales. Vietnam has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the sale of products such as pangolin ...
