Environment

Palau's pioneering ban on "reef-toxic" sunscreens took effect Wednesday as the tiny Pacific island nation introduced strict environmental measures that also include one of the world's largest marine sanctuaries.

Fire-ravaged Australia has launched a major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in seaside towns after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist areas on New Year's Eve.

One of the most beautiful beaches in the central province of Quang Ngai is facing serious erosion, affecting tourism services.

A group of students in the central city of Danang have successfully made a machine for gathering rubbish on beaches.

Police from the southeastern province of Binh Phuoc have seized 10 civets transported from Cambodia to Vietnam for investigating the case of trafficking rare and precious wild animals.

Customs in northern Hải Phòng City have seized more than two tonnes of ivory tusks and pangolin scales, the Voice of Vietnam reported.

Many areas in the Central Highlands city of Dalat are being polluted by a fire at a local rubbish dump site.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is coordinating with forest rangers of Zone 4 to organise a training course on combating wildlife trafficking, in Buon Ma Thuot city, the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Hanoi People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung has signed a directive asking related agencies to quickly deal with air pollution and let pupils stay home on bad air days.

Many people living near Nam Son dumping site in Hanoi’s outlying district of Soc Son gathered to block rubbish trucks from entering.

Police in the central province of Ha Tinh on December 25 seized five tonnes of live wild animals on a bus that was moving from the south to the north.

The concerned localities and agencies have been urged to actively brace for a new severe storm forecast which is quickly heading towards the East Sea in the last days of 2019.

A Japanese government agency has proposed releasing radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the environment, as storage space runs out.

A video-making contest named “I choose” is open for young people aged 12 – 18 to improve public awareness of the harmful effects of plastic waste to the environment.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has pointed out six major causes for the severe air pollution in many big cities, particularly in Hanoi and HCM City.

Developing tourism and services in protective and special-use forests in parallel with conservation will become a key part of the national economy in the future, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong.

A scorching heatwave intensified bushfires ravaging parts of Australia on Saturday, and out-of-control blazes surrounding Sydney worsened under "catastrophic" conditions.

Two people have been detained for illegally buying and transporting a wild langur.

Vietnam will have three to five cold spells in January and February 2020, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.