Environment

Nearly 34,000 people in the Central Highlands are facing severe famine, as the region faces a drought that has continued for months.

Many people in Dong Nai Province have been spending sleepless nights protecting their gardens from illegal sand exploiters.

Several shark species have won international trade protection at a wildlife conference in Bangkok.

Saline-water intrusion in the Mekong Delta's coastal provinces has severely affected the local agricultural production, with rice paddies facing a shortage of fresh water.

Environmental issues challenging the Mekong River were discussed at a three-day international Mekong Environment Symposium, which closes today in HCM City.

Vietnam has proposed to ban the illegal trafficking of several wild species at the 16th Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Conference of the Parties in Thailand March 3-14.

A major wildlife meeting of world governments shunned calls to ban international trade in polar bears, despite growing fears for the world's largest carnivorous land animal.

Flood shelters constructed for residents in central provinces have proven effective, so there is no need to relocate poor people living in flood-prone areas.

The USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance and Vietnam Red Cross Society jointly held a seminar to evaluate the current situation and propose solutions to reduce the risk of natural disasters in Thua Thien-Hue central province.

Rice crops will be reduced by about 4,000ha in central and Central Highlands regions, which will likely be hit by drought during the summer-autumn rice crop.

Forest fires seared through hectares of trees in the Central Highlands and southern regions, forcing localities to take urgent preventive measures.

A campaign by global environmental movement Earth Hour to get promises of action from individuals and organisations has spread to at least 50 countries, its chief executive said.

Efforts are needed to protect and use water resources sustainably or the world will run short of water for use, delegates warned at an international workshop in Hanoi on February 26.

A 200 million USD credit to help improve safe water supply and sanitation in the Red River delta was signed by the WB in Vietnam and the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi.

China's environment ministry has acknowledged the existence of "cancer villages", several years after widespread speculation first began that polluted areas were seeing a higher incidence of the disease.

Fire is devastating the Bac Bien Ho protective pine forest in Phu Hoa Town, Chu Pah District in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

Mekong Delta will face a shortage of fresh water as well as increased saline-water intrusion during the dry season, according to the Central Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre.

Almost one in five of the world's reptile species are in danger of extinction, a report said.

Vietnam will be the first destination for the export of its cutting edge environmental information technology, said Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.