Environment and land
New commission formed to investigate alleged gems association embezzlement
A new investigation commission will be formed to look into the Myanmar Gems Traders Association’s financial scandal, involving allegations of more than US$100 million that went missing from their bank account, according to the organization’s chairman. A previous review was conducted and finalized this week by ...
Companies failing to replace trees felled during projects
All companies carrying out projects in Laos which resulted in deforestation are required to plant trees to offset the loss, forestry officials and researchers have stated. But less than 10 percent of companies in question pursued the country’s laws and regulations, causing great loss in forestry ...
Old habits put crops at risk: study
A new academic report has urged farmers in the northwest of the Kingdom to change their planting ways if they want to mitigate the detrimental impacts of climate change on their crops. Van, a researcher with the department of agronomy and soil science at the University ...
Diverting the Mekong River into Thailand: The Khong-Loei-Chi-Mun project
Recently, the Royal Irrigation Department has reinvigorated its irrigation plans through the “Mekong-Loei-Chi-Mun River Management and Diversion by Gravity in the Northeast” project. It entails diverting water from the Mekong River’s mainstream into the Loei River in Northeastern Thailand, which would then be connected via tunnels ...
Rice export data show consistent decline
Cambodian rice exports have dramatically declined over the past three months compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the General Department of Agriculture on 7 June. Rice exports in the first five months of this year totaled 234,328 tonnes, compared ...
Foremost producer to make Thailand Asean export hub
Netherlands-based Royal FrieslandCampina, the producer of Foremost dairy products, plans to make Thailand its Asean export hub. The company expects income from Asia to be contributing half of its total revenue globally within five years, chief executive officer Roelof Joosten said on 7 June. He said Thailand ...
Species in ‘dramatic decline’ in east: WWF
Multiple animal species are in “dramatic decline” on Cambodia’s Eastern Plains as a result of habitat loss, road incursion, insufficient law enforcement and poaching, the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement on 7 June. According to villagers in various provinces, Cambodians hunt a diverse range ...
Combine harvesters fill labour gap in Mandalay
Farmers in Mandalay are increasingly hiring combine harvesters to make up for a labour shortage in the region but there are not yet enough machines to go around. As rural to urban migration gathers pace farmers have faced acute labour shortages. Some farmers have cut the ...
CARDI raises climate change concerns in report
A report from the Cambodia Agriculture Research and Development Institute, a semi-autonomous organisation, showed that 83 per cent of farmers surveyed in Kampong Speu, Kampot and Kampong Cham provinces had noticed the effects of climate change. Farmers in the three provinces emphasised that climate change reduced ...
Mekong dam projects ‘could destroy livelihoods, ecology’
The ecology of the Mekong River could be destroyed within 10 years if dam projects along the river are allowed to continue, Thai and Cambodian non-government organisations have warned. They have also warned that it will be very difficult for people to claim compensation for ...
