Environment and land
When selling is more lucrative than protecting: Myanma timber enterprise and the deforestation crisis
For years, Myanmar’s state-owned timber giant has been subject to accusations of corruption and shadowy closed-door dealings. Environmental advocacy groups have long blamed Myanmar Timber Enterprise for operating its industry monopoly without transparency. On November 15, their allegations appeared to gain newfound teeth, substantiated by ...
Dire threat to famed Côn Đảo flora, fauna
The famous Côn Đảo Island’s ecosystem and its biodiversity is seriously threatened by overexploitation and low environmental awareness of visitors and locals. Concerned officials as well as residents are calling for strong protective measures that can prevent the slide into irrecoverable loss. “The commercial hunting ...
Mekong River Delta wastes 140,000 tons of fertilizer a year
The Agricultural Environment Institute estimates that the volume of fertilizer unnecessarily used in agricultural production in Mekong Delta is around 140,000 tons a year. Mai Van Trinh, head of the institute, said that the abuse of plant protection chemicals in cultivation is becoming more common ...
Minister faces music on sand
Mines Minister Suy Sem could not give parliament’s anti-corruption commission an acceptable explanation for why Cambodian customs data failed to note $750 million in sand exports that Singapore says it received, the committee’s chairman said after a hearing on December 15. Sem was called in ...
App boosting Prey Lang network’s data collection
The number of illegal logging sites discovered within Prey Lang forest between April and July was 14 percent higher than the previous four-month period, according to a report released on December 15 by the Prey Lang Community Network based on data collected with a novel ...
Gold mine ban ‘not final’
Experts believe junta order allows room for amendment later; Akara Resources says 1,000 workers will lose jobs. Environmental experts believe that the junta’s order on Tuesday to suspend gold mining operations is not final and there is room to reverse the decision or amend the ...
Experts call for reducing rice exports
The country should halve its rice exports from the normal 7-8 million tonnes until 2020 because of difficulties exporters face and falling production due to climate change, according to the Viet Nam Food Association. Speaking at a seminar in HCM City on December 13, Huynh The ...
Vietsovpetro to exceed annual gas target
Russia and Viet Nam’s oil and gas exploration joint venture, Vietsovpetro, will ship ashore around 1.6 billion cu.m of gas this year, 27 per cent more than its annual target. Of this, 654 million cu.m of gas will come from Lot 09-1, in the northwest ...
Shrimp exports set to grow 10-15%
Thai shrimp exports are expected to grow by 10-15% next year, with domestic supply to hit a record high four years after Thailand began wrestling with early mortality syndrome. Somsak Paneetatyasai, president of the Thai Shrimp Association, said the country’s overall shrimp industry has been ...
Thai fishing industry: abuses continue in unpoliced waters, Greenpeace claims
An international crackdown on human rights abuses in the Thai fishing industry has resulted in vessels travelling thousands of miles further into remote and lawless waters, where trafficked men continue to be beaten and sold at sea, a 12-month Greenpeace investigation alleges. According to the ...
