Environment

PM Nguyen Tan Dung has sent an urgent instruction to several cities and provinces asking them to promptly strengthen inspections of fire-related agricultural practices in order to lower the risk of forest fire.

A deer-like animal recently found in a Vietnamese nature reserve has been confirmed as a muntjac, a creature which was believed to have become extinct 84 years ago.

Up to six out of seven branches of the Serepok River in the Central Highlands Province of Dak Lak have become dry after water was blocked for a hydropower project.

A Tokyo zoo is to shutter its panda display in an effort to encourage the famously lethargic creatures to concentrate on mating without the distraction of spectators, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

A campaign “Stop Using Rhino Horn” has been launched in Hanoi by the US’s WildAid, the African Wildlife Foundation and the Vietnamese non-governmental organization CHANGE, to raise awareness of the rhino horn crisis and urge people to stop consuming

Fourteen signs banning illegal sand and gravel mining have been installed in 14 hotspots along the Gianh River in the central province of Quang Binh.

Global warming will cut global crop production, wreak $1.45 trillion of economic damage and force mass migration from East, South and Southeast Asia coastal areas, warns a draft UN report on the environment

Authorities in Thanh Hoa Province have been unable to send a sick Asiatic black bear to a rescue centre due to cumbersome procedures and inconsistent regulations.

The programme of Payments for Forest Environmental Services has provided funding totalling nearly VND2,850 billion to 34 provinces and cities in Vietnam over the past five years.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the southern Long An provincial People’s Committee kicked off a climate change project on February 26.

A Chinese man in a smoggy northern city has become the first person in the country to sue the government for failing to curb air pollution, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Nearly 100 civil organisations and 20 poor communities in 23 cities and provinces will benefit from a project strengthening the role of Vietnamese non-governmental organisations in climate change communications and policy advocacy.

A climate change response project launched by the UK charity Oxfam has benefited 15 communes in the southern province of Ben Tre since 2012.

The number of deaths resulting from air pollution in Vietnam is expected to double by 2030, according to the latest report from DARA International.

Ho Chi Minh City has asked the World Bank to continue lending 450 million USD for the second phase of its environmental sanitation project (Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Basin), according to the city's Transport Department.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on February 19 hosted a meeting of the National Committee for Climate Change in Hanoi to discuss its plans to tackle the hot topic of climate change and rising sea levels.

A national meeting and activities in response to World Water Day 2014 will be held on March 21 in Lai Chau, one of the provinces in the watershed of the Red river and Thai Binh river, the largest river

An influx of saline water will flow 40-60km inland, into the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta's coastal provinces next month, according to the Southern Irrigation Science Institute.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has proposed to verify large-scaled projects besides the MoNRE to ensure environmental safety.