Environment

The World Wide Fund for Nature has recognised Hue as Vietnam’s National Earth Hour Capital 2016 as part of the highly selective global Earth Hour City Challenge.

Hundreds of tea farmers in the central province of Nghe An's Thanh Chuong District are facing difficulties as their tea crops have been destroyed by prolonged drought.

Overlapping efforts and poor management among agencies pose serious threats to biodiversity in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve, a biologist said during a dialogue on protecting the red-shanked douc langur.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked agencies in Hau Giang Province to inspect a Hong Kong-invested paper plant after concerns were raised that it will pollute the Hau River.

The Hanoi municipal People's Committee organised a workshop themed ‘Building environmental monitoring for Hanoi’ with the participation of leading experts on environmental treatment from Germany.

The 2016 Mekong Delta Forum entitled “Committed to a Prosperous and Climate Resilient Mekong Delta” will be held in HCM City on June 27 and 28 to discuss solutions for the critical challenges posed to the region by climate change.

A 23-year-old man from HCM City’s Gò Vấp District has been sentenced to five years in prison and fined VNĐ50 million (US$2,242) for illegal trading wildlife.

A workshop was held in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai to intensify communication calling for people to stop using products from endangered and rare animals and plants.

A cement plant has been forced to temporarily shut down as dozens of households in the central province of Quang Ngai continue to demand to be relocated due to environmental pollution.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers has asked the government to monitor the implementation of a USD1.2 billion Hong Kong-invested paper project in Hau Giang due to environmental concerns.

The European Commission (EC) on June 22 launched a new co-operation project with Vietnam to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of its nuclear safety authority, the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety.

Baking hot temperatures have raised the forest fire warning in six provinces to level 5 – the extremely dangerous level, according to the Vietnam Forest Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Vietnam Television organised a ceremony on June 19 on Sam Son beach of central Thanh Hoa province to launch a campaign to clean the sea at the national level.

Hundreds of hectares of coral at Con Dao Islands some 80 kilometres to the south-west of Vietnam have been being bleached though a process attributed due to the El Nino phenomenon.

HCM City is one of the hotspots of illegal trade and consumption of wildlife and plants, experts have said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has ordered an investigation into a local titanium exploiter in Binh Thuan Province after a waste reservoir broke allowing huge amounts of toxic red mud to flood residential areas.

A white-cheeked gibbon has been returned to the wild after being illegally kept by a family in Ha Tinh for 10 years.

The World Bank has approved US$310 million to help Vietnam build climate response programmes and ensure sustainable livelihoods of 1.2 million people living in nine Mekong Delta provinces affected by climate change, saline intrusion, coastal erosion, and flooding.

The Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) and central regions are expanding areas to breed livestock as well as other animals like sheep, ostriches, goats, honeybees and silkworms.