Environment and land

It’s estimated that about 10 percent of global emissions comes from deforestation — meaning we could make considerable progress toward halting climate change simply by keeping what remains of the world’s forests standing. Agricultural commodities — especially beef, palm oil, soy, and pulp and paper ...

A public consultation on the regulations that will accompany Myanmar’s new investment law threw the spotlight onto the country’s complicated land legislation once again. But although they acknowledge the barriers that land rules present to potential investors, officials in charge of the investment law regulations ...

The waves of the Indian Ocean crash against the breakwater at Bawur Bay, a protective arm shielding the Pacitan coal-fired power plant. A few meters away, a barge full of coal is berthed. Its cargo is unloaded onto a conveyor belt and transported about 500 ...

Extreme weather conditions resulting in a complex tide phenomenon, landslides and sea erosion are threatening coastal areas in central Bình Thuận Province, authority officials and local people have said. Mai Kiều, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this week that ...

Laos is making hectic preparations for the building of one more hydropower dam – Pak Beng – on the Mekong river section which runs through Oudomxay province, despite strong warnings about the influence on the lower course, especially in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta. The Mekong ...

The final master plan of Hin Nam Nor National Protected Area in Khammuan province for submission to the World Heritage list will be sent to UNESCO early next year for assessment. An official for the Hin Nam Nor National Protected Area, who asked not to ...

A Chinese company has told Lao authorities they want to invest US$10 billion in developing Khonephapheng special economic zone in Champassak province. Deputy Governor of Champassak province Mr Buasone Vongsongkhone told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that provincial authorities held talks with the company recently and ...

Chab Sanna, 67, on January 26 told a courtroom how her three sons had been lured from their Svay Rieng province home in search of work abroad only to be trafficked into a life of near-slavery on a Thai fishing vessel. It’s an all-too-familiar tale, though ...

Avocados have never been a big part of the Khmer diet, making infrequent appearances in dessert dishes or drenched in condensed milk as a smoothie. But a small local market for the green pear-shaped fruit is forming, and experts say it could be a profitable ...

The construction of the Pak Beng Hydropower Project is expected to begin at the end of this year after reaching agreement among Lower Mekong countries. A group of technical officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat and media organisations ...