Environment

A high risk of drought and water scarcity has been warned for the south central and Central Highlands regions of Vietnam from March to May this year.

Hanoi will respond to the 2019 Earth Hour with a series of activities which begin on March 9 and culminate in an event from 20:00 to 21:30 on March 30 at the Cach Mang Thang Tam Square in the

Authorities in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province will spend over VND35.5bn (USD1.5m) to move 70,000 tonnes of rubbish from Con Dao Island to the mainland for treatment.

Thailand and Laos have launched an annual campaign to prevent and address forest fire between both countries.

The recent abnormal weather conditions have indicated that natural disasters will be unpredictable in the time ahead, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trang An in the northern province of Ninh Binh has been covered by rubbish during the on-going festival season.

Local authorities in the Mekong Delta have warned about forest fires during the dry season as temperatures in the last two days reached 34 degrees without any rain.

Crowds have been rushing to Yen Tu in the northern province of Quang Ninh after Tet holiday, leaving huge amounts of litter.

A beach spanning nearly 4 kilometres in Danang City has been seriously polluted with the water turned into black colour for days.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and many leaders have joined in the planting of over 2,000 trees in Hoa Binh Province on February 13.

More than 5,000 residents in Phuc Tho district of Hanoi have signed their names to a petition calling for an end to bear farming, said Deputy Director of the Education for Nature-Vietnam Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung.

Vietnam is one of Asia’s five worst polluters of ocean plastic waste, according to international organisations. With 13 million tonnes of waste released to the ocean every year, the country ranks 17th in the world for ocean plastic waste pollution.

More than 500 wild animals were rescued in 2018 as awareness about nature increases, according to the Education for Nature-Vietnam.

Local people in Ky Anh District, Ha Tinh Province have set up a protest camp outside the Phu Ha Waste Treatment Plant for a third time, complaining it has seriously polluted the environment.

Vietnam will host the 12th Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum in Asia (EST 12) this year, the national English – language newspaper quoted the Ministry of Transport as announcing.

Forest rangers on Côn Đảo Island, in the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, are familiar with a busy schedule because they not only patrol the forests, they also have to protect aquatic resources.

Coral reefs have been revived on an area of 2,000sq.m in water off the Cham Island Maritime Protected Area (MPA) after a pilot project that ran from 2015-17.

Coastal erosion is one of the biggest threats faced by the sea tourism industry, according to the Tourism Development Research Institute.

A herbivorous dinosaur that fended off predators with a row of spines running along its back and lived 140 million years ago has been found in Argentine Patagonia.