Two biosphere reserves Nui Chua in the central province of Ninh Thuan and Kon Ha Nung in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai have earned UNESCO recognition.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Giant buddha statue in planned SEZ rankles residents of Laos’ capital
A Chinese firm’s plans to build a 100-meter-high Buddha statue in low-lying Vientiane encapsulate China’s outsized economic presence in Laos. It is to be featured in the 365-hectare Chinese-built SEZ, in which it is planning to build residential buildings, hotels, offices, restaurants, public parks, and other facilities.
Agriculture minister urges for further linkage within 13 Mekong Delta provinces
Hoan said the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the lack of connectivity between the 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region. They should be considered and treated as a single economic entity, but we are treating these provinces and cities like 13 separate subjects.
Peak to be Unesco reserve
Doi Chiang Dao is located in Ban Pang Ma-O in Chiang Dao district which is part of the upper Ping River basin where its ecosystem has been protected by the Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary for four decades. The area is also diverse in ethnic groups with Tai Yai, Hmong, Lahu, Lishu and Paganyaw, including Lanna culture.
Myanmar’s snowcapped north is a haven for large mammals, new study finds
The research team deployed 174 cameras in the forests and mountain slopes and interviewed local villagers, detecting 40 large mammal species overall.
Prey Lang Extended landscape has significant forest cover, but declining health
The report said that over the 12-year period, carbon storage per hectare of forest (not carbon in the soil) in the PLEL has been reduced from 120 Mg C/ha to 95 Mg C/ha. hreats such as encroachment and exploitation of natural resources in the PLEL continue at an alarming rate, chipping away at the 19 protected areas in the PLEL (53% of the PLEL) and stressing water and soil resources.
Record coal prices pose problems for power producers
The lowest coal price was in 2016, the year EDC average cost to buy electricity was 9.5c/kWh [cents per kilowatt hour]. Ironically, it was also the same year EDC began to look to solar power. Now, EDC can buy solar for less than half that, with prices for solar and wind between 3.88c/kWh to 6.8c/kWh.
Government urged to tackle northeast’s water supply issue
Farms in the Northeastern Economic Corridor depend on good water supplies, however officials suggest that in the first phase of the development, needs to focus first on the logistics industry because the regional infrastructure including double-track rails, motorways, and the Sino-Thai high-speed train project linking Bangkok and Nong Khai, have made a lot of progress.
LNG-to-power project, $30 billion in offshore wind targeted for Vietnam
Details of a large liquefied natural gas-to-power project were announced Sept. 13, just days after the country’s T&T Group and Denmark’s Ørsted said they are prepared to invest $30 billion support offshore wind power development for Vietnam.