Environment and land
Land used for palm oil could double without damaging forests, say researchers
The area covered by palm oil plantations worldwide could double without damaging protected areas or sensitive forests, Austrian researchers said on Tuesday (July 26).Researchers from the Austria-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) studied satellite maps from South-east Asia, Africa and Latin America to ...
Vietnam busts illegal transport of 18 bear legs from Laos
Police in the central province of Thanh Hoa seized 18 frozen bear legs transported aboard a bus by its driver without a license Tuesday.The limbs, weighing 38 kilograms in all, were identified as belonging to red-listed sun bears, news website VnExpress said.Dinh Hong Phuong, 47, ...
Agriculture abandoned by Vietnamese entrepreneurs
Vietnam has great advantages for agricultural production, but in the last 10 years, domestic enterprises have been focusing on the services sector and abandoning the field. The 2015 Business Annual Report released by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently showed a very low proportion ...
Rosewood exports to Vietnam achieved with fake signatures: official
housands of cubic metres of endangered Siamese rosewood were sent to Vietnam in 2014 with export permits bearing the Photoshopped signature of a retired Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) secretary of state, a ministry official said yesterday.The trade in Siamese rosewood was internationally ...
Laos builds third hydropower dam, threatening Mekong River in VN
Vietnam needs to find solutions to the increasing number of hydropower dams being built in regional countries, according to Dr Vu Trong Hong, chair of the Vietnam Water Resources Association, and former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Laos is preparing to build the ...
Disney carbon deal follows past emissions credit failure
A $2.6 million deal by Walt Disney Company to preserve nearly 300,000 hectares of eastern Cambodian forest through the purchase of carbon credits will need to overcome past failures to succeed, critics said on 25 July. The carbon trade aims to counter 365,000 tons of emissions ...
Hundreds of jade mining licenses expire this month
Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has released a list of 310 jade mining companies in Kachin State who will be unable to renew their licenses when they expire at the end of this month. The government previously said it would not renew expired ...
Company ordered to halt Vietnam live exports
Ruralco has been ordered to halt live exports to Vietnam after the federal government raised concerns over animal control and traceability in the southeast Asian country. The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has directed Ruralco live export business Frontier to cease supply of feeder and ...
The world’s most expensive coffee is a nightmare for the animals who produce it
The most expensive coffee in the world can go for $100 a cup, but it comes with a hidden cost: the well-being of a forest-dwelling cat-like creature native to southeast Asia. Historically, kopi luwak was made using palm civet droppings harvested in the wild. But the ...
ASEAN deadlocked on South China Sea after Cambodia blocks statement
Southeast Asian nations failed to find common ground on maritime disputes in the South China Sea on July 24 after Cambodia stuck to its demand the group make no reference to an international court ruling against Beijing in a statement, diplomats said. ASEAN is now facing ...
