Environment

China needs to slash emission levels by as much as half before any obvious improvements are made to its environment, a senior government official said on Friday, underscoring the challenges facing the country after three decades of breakneck growth.

A national campaign will take place in northern Bac Giang province on March 19 and 20 in honour of World Water Day on March 22, according to the Directorate of Water Resources.

A group of young people in Hanoi are urging others to stop polluting the city's ponds, lakes and rivers with trash, invoking the Kitchen God to their cause.

Local authorities in Bac Ninh Province have illegally sold 42 rare pangolins seized in a raid on wildlife traffickers, raising the hackles of conservationists.

The management of Dong Chau Protective Forest in central Quang Binh have signed a contract for the Viet Nature Conservation Centre to lease forest land for scientific research and conservation.

The 2015 Earth Hour response programme, which calls upon people to save energy to cope with climate change, was launched in Hanoi on February 7.

The Prime Minister has approved a project on central-level biodiversity conservation and sustainable usage of eco-forestry services, using Germany ’s non-refundable official development assistance (ODA).

New apartment buildings in Hanoi are cutting corners on waste treatment or skipping it all together to maximise profit, creating serious pollution problems for residents and those living in neighbouring areas.

The southernmost province of Ca Mau will temporarily close the U Minh Ha cajuput forest from February 4 till the end of April as the dry season poses a high risk of catching fires for the area.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the US Agency for International Development signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen disaster response managementon February 2.

From improving institutions to devising detailed plans for each sector, Vietnam is making every effort in order to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions by 2030.

As the flow of the Red River changed due to the impacts of climate change and socio-economic development, the Red River Delta region would face problems, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang.

Environmental police in central Nghe An Province have arrested a local man for illegally trading wild and rare animals after a raid that uncovered 48 dead monkeys inside freezers.

Frustrated and incensed residents of Huong Phuoc and Tan Cang villages in Dong Nai Province have been blocking roads used by quarries to transport rocks since Monday.

The framework of the national biodiversity database, the result of a three-year US$3 million project funded by the Japan International Co-operation Agency, was announced on January 27 in Hanoi.

Le Thi Trang has been nominated for an International Future for Nature Award 2015 for her work in protecting wildlife from hunters in Vietnam.

Cat Ba National Park in the northern port city of Hai Phong is a safe haven for thousands of creatures, including many rare animals. Biodiversity in this park has been protected and promoted thanks to the tireless efforts of

Rare Ha Tinh langurs were found on a mountain in central Quang Binh, according to the local Forest Ranger Department.

Beijing plans to shut 300 companies this year to help reduce choking air pollution in the Chinese capital, the official Xinhua news agency said.