Travel restrictions have led to lower sales for farmers and resulted in significant losses for those who rely on loans, leading to a near collapse of Myanmar’s agricultural economy.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Germany to overhaul foreign aid policy
Germany plans a shakeup of its foreign aid, limiting its “partner” list to 60 nations and dropping Burundi and Myanmar. Minister Gerd Müller says knock-out criteria will be corruption, rights abuses and poor governance.
Traders are stockpiling ivory, rhino horns in SEA
Wildlife traders have stockpiled large quantities of ivory in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia because of difficulties in transporting it to China due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and border closings.
Sugarcane leaves a bitter aftertaste
Two of Thailand’s country’s major environmental problems — PM2.5 ultrafine dust and toxic contamination — stem largely from sugarcane farming, which ironically receives a big chunk of state subsidies.
Justice vowed after forest protection officer killed
The sanctuary houses many protected animals including fishing cats, leopards, pangolins, civet, serows, slow lorises and paradoxurus, which may attract poachers.
New UN initiative to reduce plastic pollution from ASEAN cities
Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand and Da Nang, Viet Nam are among the cities to participate in the ‘Closing the Loop’ project that supports governments to address plastic waste pollution and leakages into the marine environment.
Ministry to give mining rights for four coal sites
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to review applications soon for rights to four coal mining concession areas – totalling 794sq km – it opened late in March in the Kingdom’s north.
Committee votes to ban harmful pesticides from June 1
The National Hazardous Substance Committee (NHSC) is standing by its scheduled ban on the herbicide paraquat and pesticide chlorpyrifos and restrict use of glyphosate instead of banning it.