Environment and land

CHÀM ISLANDS, Vietnam – Local fisherman Huynh Tan Loc now earns his living mostly from home-stay and food services or night-fishing on a boat rather than regular fishing. Loc, 56, and his wife can earn VND350,000 (US$15) per night from renting out a room, excluding food, ...

An international team from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam visited the Tennessee and Cumberland River Systems last week at the invitation of the United States in support of water development in the Lower Mekong River Basin. The U.S. State Department sponsored the sharing of information ...

Although the Thừa Thiên-Huế Province People’s Committee announced it had cracked down on illegal gold mining along the upper part of the Đắkrông River in A Lưới District, the river water is still polluted, affecting people living downstream. Lao động (Labour) newspaper on Wednesday reported that gold ...

Forests in the vast Asia-Pacific region are facing a serious threat as primary forest cover is now only 19 percent of total forest area – the lowest level of any region worldwide, a major gathering of forestry stakeholders heard today. Some 2,000 delegates are participating in Asia-Pacific ...

Life’s hard for the salt farming communities in the far south of Ayeyarwady Region, where services are basic, food is scarce and debt is never-ending. It’s a 90-minute motorbike journey south from the Ayeyarwady delta town of Labutta before you get the first glimpses of the ...

The high-speed train project to link up three major airports is still mired in land expropriation and eviction problems concerning 20% of the land required for construction despite it being expected to begin operation in five years. If the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) fails to ...

Laos has agreed in principle to provide data and information about water resources and management plans involving the Mekong River directly to Thai authorities to assess the water situation and take action to prevent floods in eight northeastern provinces. Somkiat Prajamwong, secretary-general of the Office of ...

Changes in river morphology including floods, erosion, and landslides are affecting ecosystem habitats and the lives and livelihoods of communities living along Myanmar’s rivers. SERVIR-Mekong is using satellite-based monitoring tools to support Myanmar agencies and communities to manage the risks better. Last year in Myanmar, floods ...

Rayong residents have raised concerns about pollution and the empty promises that the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project might bring. Their concerns, they said yesterday, were based on the lesson they learned from the Eastern Seaboard Development programme more than 30 years ago.  “When the Eastern Seaboard ...

As one of Thailand’s foremost marine conservation photographers, Sirachai “Shin” Arunrugstichai sees on a daily basis dead baby sharks discarded as trash by fishing trawlers, tourist speedboats crushing coral, and dead whales cut open and full of plastic. “We are prostituting our resources for others to ...