Environment and natural resources

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – Work to build an embankment and promenade along the Mekong River in Savannakhet’s provincial capital has begun, with support from the Asian Development Bank.A ground-breaking ceremony for the project took place in Kaysone Phomvihane city recently, attended by senior provincial officials.The US$4.5 ...

Savannakhet provincial authorities last week stopped a container truck being driven by a Vietnamese national through Phin district into Vietnam, and confiscated illegally harvested timber stored inside the vehicle.Acting Director of the province’s Forestry Inspection Office, Mr Laty Phengsithai, told Vientiane Times that forest inspection officials stopped ...

(KPL) The outflow of water from the Jinghong hydropower station in China’s Yunnan province will decrease by about 25-45 per cent over five days, according to an official notification from China’s Ministry of Water Resources being copied to the Mekong River Commission Secretariat on Monday.In ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has revised the list of wood products approved for export so that Lao furniture makers can more easily sell their goods in local and overseas markets.The ministry has specified three main categories of wood product ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The Ministry of Energy and Mines and the World Bank on Thursday signed an Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement for the Lao Clean Cook Stove Initiative to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.The project will be complemented by carbon finance capacity ...

Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked mammalDozens of live pangolins smuggled from Laos have been discovered “dehydrated and weak” in a box on a bus in Vietnam.The Vietnamese police arrested the driver and his wife on suspicion of trafficking the animals from Laos, AFP reported ...

The Refill not Landfill campaign hopes to solve the problem of single-use plastic waste in southern Laos.It is estimated that more than 100 million disposable plastic water bottles are consumed by travelers to Laos each year. Most of them are not recycled, and in many parts of ...

The Republic of Korea will provide a grant of US$6.78 million to fund a wastewater and solid waste treatment capacity-building project for improved environmental management in Vientiane and Pakxe. The Korean government will provide grant aid of US$6.5 million, while an additional US$280,000 will come from ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – The level of the Mekong River – the longest river in Southeast Asia – will increase gradually in the coming weeks after falling to a record rainy-season low that is affecting farmers and businesses.The Meteorology and Hydrology Department issued the forecast ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times) – The Mekong, one of the largest rivers in South East Asia, is experiencing a historically low level, and Vientiane residents whose livelihoods depend on the river are struggling to sustain their businesses.Mr Xaysana Bounyalath, who has been fishing in the river ...