Environment

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.

Scientists have urged New Zealand to take immediate action to protect the critically endangered Maui's dolphin, amid extinction warnings by 2030.

People living near the Tien River in Dong Thap Province have been facing the threat of landslides and the other bad effects of erosion as a result of sand dredging.

The Sonadezi Long Thanh Company confirmed that it would pay the entire compensation it owed farmers in the southern province of Dong Nai yesterday, local officials announced.

Furry crabs once thought to be damaging the Great Barrier Reef may in fact be helping save the coral by stopping the spread of disease, a researcher said.

Dyke erosion and forested areas cut down for shrimp ponds are destroying farmland and affecting the livelihood of local residents in coastal areas in Tra Vinh Province.