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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=vietnam&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/vietnam/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 24 May 2026 23:55:53 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Vietnam environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/vietnam/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>What drives the trafficking of gibbons? Conservationists shed light on demand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/what-drives-the-trafficking-of-gibbons-conservationists-shed-light-on-demand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/what-drives-the-trafficking-of-gibbons-conservationists-shed-light-on-demand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 May 2026 05:48:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/17092446/hoolock-gibbons-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=319964</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Illegal Trade, Pet Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As gibbon seizures reached a record high in 2025, conservationists warn that dismantling the illegal trade requires a deep understanding of the diverse motivations driving consumer demand, contributor Ana Norman Bermúdez reports for Mongabay. In 2025, authorities confiscated 336 gibbons between January and August alone, representing approximately 20% of all recorded seizures since 2016, according [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As gibbon seizures reached a record high in 2025, conservationists warn that dismantling the illegal trade requires a deep understanding of the diverse motivations driving consumer demand, contributor Ana Norman Bermúdez reports for Mongabay. In 2025, authorities confiscated 336 gibbons between January and August alone, representing approximately 20% of all recorded seizures since 2016, according to an analysis by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. Experts say that because motivations for buying a gibbon vary widely across different buyer communities, solutions must be tailored accordingly. “Primates have always fascinated people,” said Elizabeth John of TRAFFIC, adding that gibbons are particularly appealing “because of their uniqueness and rarity.” While Indonesia and Vietnam have historically dominated the gibbon trade, India and Malaysia have emerged as key countries in the illegal chain in recent years. In Malaysia, demand is often driven by a misplaced &#8220;love&#8221; for animals. Mariani “Bam” Ramli, founder of the Gibbon Conservation Society, said most owners acquire gibbons through informal networks or online, usually to keep as pets, and surrender their animals voluntarily. “Most of them say they love animals, or they want their children to have an animal to play with,” Ramli said. The market in India has two kinds of demand: local trade in rural areas and wealthy urban buyers willing to buy gibbons for social standing. Florian Magne, director of the HURO Foundation, said that gibbons are often perceived as &#8220;prestigious pets, attracting attention and conferring social status.&#8221; Magne also points to a growing demand from private zoos and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/what-drives-the-trafficking-of-gibbons-conservationists-shed-light-on-demand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/what-drives-the-trafficking-of-gibbons-conservationists-shed-light-on-demand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>19,000 Great Pyramids a year: Report flags unsustainable rate of sand mining</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/19000-great-pyramids-a-year-report-flags-unsustainable-rate-of-sand-mining/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/19000-great-pyramids-a-year-report-flags-unsustainable-rate-of-sand-mining/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2026 17:33:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18095047/WWF-Viet-Nam_Sand-Extraction-Mekong-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319631</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Dredging, Environment, Erosion, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Infrastructure, Mining, Rivers, Supply Chain, and Tropical Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sand is the most widely extracted solid material on Earth. The global sand mining industry removes roughly 50 billion metric tons of it a year, a pace that far outstrips the planet’s natural replenishment rates, according to a new report from the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP). Excessive sand extraction from landscapes, rivers and coastal zones [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sand is the most widely extracted solid material on Earth. The global sand mining industry removes roughly 50 billion metric tons of it a year, a pace that far outstrips the planet’s natural replenishment rates, according to a new report from the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP). Excessive sand extraction from landscapes, rivers and coastal zones threatens ecosystems, livelihoods and many processes on which life depends, the report says. Yet the current pace of removal — enough to build more than 19,000 Great Pyramids of Giza — is only set to grow, with demand for buildings alone expected to rise 45% by 2060. Without coordinated governance, stronger monitoring and long-term planning to mitigate the risks of surging global demand, the industry will continue operating at an unsustainable level, the authors say. The report, published by UNEP’s Global Resource Information Database Geneva (GRID-Geneva) team, calls on industry stakeholders to improve extraction practices to use sand more wisely by balancing meeting demand with environmental protection. Sand is used to make concrete to build everything from homes and offices to roads and seawalls. It’s also used to manufacture glass and silicon-based components like electronic chips and solar panels. “Sand is sometimes referred as the unrecognized hero of development,” Pascal Peduzzi, director of UNEP’s GRID-Geneva program, said in a press release. However, its role in sustaining biodiversity and coastal communities already vulnerable to the impacts of environmental change is too often overlooked, he added. “Sand is our first line of defence against sea level rise,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/19000-great-pyramids-a-year-report-flags-unsustainable-rate-of-sand-mining/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/19000-great-pyramids-a-year-report-flags-unsustainable-rate-of-sand-mining/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 19:54:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Petro Kotzé]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06160303/2-with-people-in-water-BANNER-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318789</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, Mekong Basin, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Climate Change And Food, Climate Justice, Conservation, Dams, Environment, Flooding, Food, Food Crisis, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Mekong Dams, Mining, Oceans, Oceans And Climate Change, Planetary Health, Rivers, Sea Levels, Sedimentation, and Water Crisis]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“I would like for me and my children to live here forever,” said Lâm Thu Sang, a resident of Vietnam’s Cần Thơ, a city of more than 2 million people located near the mouth of the Mekong River on one of the world’s largest river deltas. But that may not be possible. In the past, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“I would like for me and my children to live here forever,” said Lâm Thu Sang, a resident of Vietnam’s Cần Thơ, a city of more than 2 million people located near the mouth of the Mekong River on one of the world’s largest river deltas. But that may not be possible. In the past, about 160 million metric tons of sediment was annually funneled down the 4,300-kilometer (nearly 2,700-mile) Mekong River to form and nourish the vast delta where the river meets the sea. By 2024, that deposition rate had fallen by 70% per year — starving the delta of much of its source material. The Mekong flows through six Asian nations, draining a roughly 800,000-square-kilometer (309,000-square-mile) basin, until finally releasing its combined sediments into the 40,000-km2 (15,400-mi2) Mekong Delta — a complex ecological system of low-lying fertile lands and a web of waterways the size of the Netherlands, stretching from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to the South China Sea in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the future of Lâm Thu Sang’s community and this great delta are seriously in doubt, with the delta doubly threatened by land subsidence and sea level rise. Mekong Delta residents say life there is changing. For one, annual floods have become longer and more severe. Image courtesy of Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center. Sang, who helps run the Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center, an NGO focused on eradicating poverty in remote areas of Cần Thơ, said that people know their delta home is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Saline intrusion in Mekong Delta leaves farmers and scientists at odds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/saline-intrusion-in-mekong-delta-leaves-farmers-and-scientists-at-odds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/saline-intrusion-in-mekong-delta-leaves-farmers-and-scientists-at-odds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 22:49:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Minh L Tran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/29170339/Khanh-Chi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318406</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Environment, Environmental Law, Featured, Freshwater, Impact Of Climate Change, Research, Rivers, Sea Levels, Water, Water Crisis, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vinh Long, VIETNAM — Khanh Chi tends a small apricot blossom orchard in Nhuan Phu Tan, a commune in southern Vietnam’s Vinh Long province by the Co Chien River, one of the Mekong River’s final distributaries before reaching the ocean. Her orchard is 55 kilometers (34 miles) inland. According to the provincial hydrometeorological observatory, Chi’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vinh Long, VIETNAM — Khanh Chi tends a small apricot blossom orchard in Nhuan Phu Tan, a commune in southern Vietnam’s Vinh Long province by the Co Chien River, one of the Mekong River’s final distributaries before reaching the ocean. Her orchard is 55 kilometers (34 miles) inland. According to the provincial hydrometeorological observatory, Chi’s commune is the furthest point along the Co Chien River where, this year, salinity levels hit 4 parts per thousand (ppt) — the threshold at which rice farming is damaged. As saltwater pushes deeper and less predictably into the delta in recent decades, Vietnam has responded with canals, dikes and sluice gates to keep it out. For farmers, such projects offer the most explicit and immediate relief. Scientists say that might be a problem. Instead of engineering its way out of the salinity crisis, scientists argue, the region must adapt to it. “I buy freshwater, bring it back by truck, and just spray it like a mist,” Chi says, describing how she waters the apricot during dry season, when the river is saline. She used to grow fruit seedlings, durian and jackfruit but made the switch to ornamental plants as they are more resilient to saltwater. A few years ago, Chi dug a small pond in her orchard to store water when it rains or the river runs fresh. She uses it sparingly, enough to stretch through a few worst days of an intrusion. “The bigger the orchard, the larger the lake,” she says. “My&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/saline-intrusion-in-mekong-delta-leaves-farmers-and-scientists-at-odds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/saline-intrusion-in-mekong-delta-leaves-farmers-and-scientists-at-odds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Laos can do more to mitigate chemical pollution of rivers flowing into Vietnam (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/laos-can-do-more-to-mitigate-chemical-pollution-of-rivers-flowing-into-vietnam-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/laos-can-do-more-to-mitigate-chemical-pollution-of-rivers-flowing-into-vietnam-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 02:43:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pham Phan Long]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/29135516/4008934960_0289182d3a_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318272</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Chemicals, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Mining, Pollution, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asia’s growing demand for rare earth elements and gold, driven by global needs in electronics, renewable energy, defense and high-value commodities, has accelerated mining across the region. While Myanmar’s unregulated mines have drawn attention for contaminating Mekong River tributaries, monitored by the Mekong River Commission, an equally pressing but less scrutinized issue exists along [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asia’s growing demand for rare earth elements and gold, driven by global needs in electronics, renewable energy, defense and high-value commodities, has accelerated mining across the region. While Myanmar’s unregulated mines have drawn attention for contaminating Mekong River tributaries, monitored by the Mekong River Commission, an equally pressing but less scrutinized issue exists along the river systems shared by Laos and Vietnam, where no comparable bilateral treaty provides oversight. River hydrology and the mining footprint The total population of Laos is less than 8 million. In northeastern Laos, particularly Houaphanh province (population 300,000), rapid expansion of rare earth and gold mining along the Nam Ma, Nam Sam and Nam Neun rivers poses significant transborder risks. These waterways flow into Vietnam as the Song Ma, Song Chu and Song Lam rivers, where they sustain drinking water, agriculture and fisheries for approximately 10 million people in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. Pollutants can travel downstream within hours, creating urgent needs for cross-border cooperation. Satellite analysis from the Stimson Center’s interactive River Basins Dashboard shows 21 mines directly impacting these river systems in Laos. Contamination seen in these interconnected basins mirrors contamination patterns seen in Mekong tributaries affected by upstream mining in Myanmar, where toxins have devastated fisheries downstream in Laos and Thailand. Stimson’s dashboard shows 2,539 riverine mines in the region, including more than 500 rare earth mines concentrated in Myanmar and Laos. Many employ in-situ leaching techniques that use large volumes of river water and chemicals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/laos-can-do-more-to-mitigate-chemical-pollution-of-rivers-flowing-into-vietnam-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>10 years after Vietnam’s Formosa steel plant spill, justice for victims remains elusive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-years-after-vietnams-formosa-steel-plant-spill-justice-for-victims-remains-elusive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-years-after-vietnams-formosa-steel-plant-spill-justice-for-victims-remains-elusive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 14:52:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hướng Thiện]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06075811/Vietnamese-activists-hold-photo-of-dead-fish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316991</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Environment, environmental justice, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Industry, Land Rights, Law, Pollution, Protests, Social Justice, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early 2016, a power failure shut down the waste treatment facility at Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Steel Hà Tĩnh (FSH), located off the coast of Vietnam’s Hà Tĩnh province. The power failure caused the facility to illegally release untreated water — contaminated with phenol, cyanide and iron hydroxide — into the sea. On April 6, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early 2016, a power failure shut down the waste treatment facility at Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Steel Hà Tĩnh (FSH), located off the coast of Vietnam’s Hà Tĩnh province. The power failure caused the facility to illegally release untreated water — contaminated with phenol, cyanide and iron hydroxide — into the sea. On April 6, 2016, dead fish starting washing up on beaches across four provinces in the North Central region of Vietnam: Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế. Over the following weeks, at least 100 metric tons of dead fish washed ashore. Untold numbers of people were sickened by eating contaminated fish, and divers from the region were reported to have died in the affected waters. In the aftermath of the disaster, thousands more lost their income as waters were closed, fishing operations were suspended and tourism ground to a halt. The government-approved list of victims consists of 510,000 people in 130,000 households across 730 villages and hamlets. Initially, both FSH and the Vietnamese authorities failed to acknowledge the  company&#8217;s culpability. Statements from Vietnamese authorities attributed the mass fish deaths to the natural growth of toxic algae blooms. “No (formally registered) NGO inside the country dared to conduct an investigation on site,” said a Hanoi-based independent human rights activist, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation. Only after widespread protests across the country, one of Vietnam&#8217;s largest civic mobilizations in recent years, did the government name the company as the culprit behind&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-years-after-vietnams-formosa-steel-plant-spill-justice-for-victims-remains-elusive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A nature-based solution to save the Mekong Delta’s water future (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-nature-based-solution-to-save-the-mekong-deltas-water-future-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-nature-based-solution-to-save-the-mekong-deltas-water-future-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2026 10:01:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pham Phan Long]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/26082735/52314040736_af2758dde2_3k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316323</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Conservation, Commentary, Community Development, Drinking Water, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Freshwater, Nature-based climate solutions, Rivers, Solutions, Water, Water Crisis, Water Scarcity, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Mekong Delta of Vietnam ranks among the world’s three most climate-vulnerable regions. Known as Southeast Asia’s “rice basket,” the region is home to 18 million people, produces half of Vietnam’s rice and 65% of its aquaculture, but faces escalating threats from rising sea levels, water pollution, groundwater depletion, saltwater intrusion and land subsidence. With [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Mekong Delta of Vietnam ranks among the world’s three most climate-vulnerable regions. Known as Southeast Asia’s “rice basket,” the region is home to 18 million people, produces half of Vietnam’s rice and 65% of its aquaculture, but faces escalating threats from rising sea levels, water pollution, groundwater depletion, saltwater intrusion and land subsidence. With only 20% of wastewater treated and more than 60% of rural residents lacking safe water and sanitation, the region’s environmental and economic stability hangs in the balance. A new proposal, the Nature-Based Mekong Delta Water Replenishment System (MD-GWRS), offers a sustainable, cost-effective solution to restore water security, leveraging the delta’s natural features and proven global technologies. The proposed MD-GWRS will increase Mekong groundwater yield by 1.5 million cubic meters per day to 4 million m3/day (53 million to 141 million cubic feet per day) at a cost of $317 million per year, with a potential benefit of $450 million per year from higher agriculture yield and aquaculture production. A region under threat The Mekong Delta’s challenges are stark. Surface water, often a mix of stormwater and untreated wastewater, is heavily contaminated. Groundwater is increasingly saline due to saltwater intrusion, affecting 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres), while overextraction has led to depletion and land subsidence at alarming rates (1.1-5.7 centimeters per year, or 0.4-2.2 inches, in Can Tho). Sea-level rise (2.2-13.5 millimeters per year, or 0.09-0.5 in), frequent droughts, and reduced dry-season river flows exacerbate the crisis, threatening the livelihoods of millions and the region’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-nature-based-solution-to-save-the-mekong-deltas-water-future-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Asian wild dog spotted in Vietnam for the first time in 20 years</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/asian-wild-dog-spotted-in-vietnam-for-the-first-time-in-20-years/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/asian-wild-dog-spotted-in-vietnam-for-the-first-time-in-20-years/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 10:38:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03003720/Carnivores-Photo-5-e1774435069845-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316266</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carnivores, Endangered Species, Environment, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Recent research has confirmed the first sighting of a dhole in more than two decades, a reddish-brown wild dog native to Asia. Before the sighting, the predator was believed to be extinct in Vietnam. The dhole (Cuon alpinus), historically one of the most widespread large carnivores in Asia, was seen on camera-trap footage. The single [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Recent research has confirmed the first sighting of a dhole in more than two decades, a reddish-brown wild dog native to Asia. Before the sighting, the predator was believed to be extinct in Vietnam. The dhole (Cuon alpinus), historically one of the most widespread large carnivores in Asia, was seen on camera-trap footage. The single adult was spotted in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve in Nghe An province on New Year’s Eve in 2023. Before this sighting, the IUCN Red List considered the dhole locally extinct. The find was so unexpected that researchers initially doubted their own eyes. “To be quite honest, before and during the field survey, we did not expect any amazing results,” study author Tuan Anh Nguyen from Vietnam National University told Mongabay. “I really thought I might have a case of a domestic dog&#8230; that coincidentally looked somewhat like a dhole.” The image was eventually verified by four independent biologists. This documentation followed 49 large-scale surveys and more than 260,000 camera-trap recordings across 31 sites, during which no other dholes were detected. Despite the sighting, researchers conclude the species is likely extirpated across most of Vietnam’s protected areas, primarily due to commercial snaring, a form of industrial hunting that uses wire snares, with up to 10,000 traps. Such traps create a lethal gauntlet for any ground-dwelling species, Nguyen said. “A wide-ranging carnivore species like a dhole is the most sensitive to snaring, as they themselves are vulnerable to snaring, and their food base is also vulnerable to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/asian-wild-dog-spotted-in-vietnam-for-the-first-time-in-20-years/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Vietnam and Russia advance nuclear power deal as energy security concerns grow in Southeast Asia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/vietnam-and-russia-advance-nuclear-power-deal-as-energy-security-concerns-grow-in-southeast-asia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/vietnam-and-russia-advance-nuclear-power-deal-as-energy-security-concerns-grow-in-southeast-asia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Mar 2026 16:28:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/24162046/Cooling_towers_of_a_nuclear_power_plant-e1774369561160-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=316205</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Energy, Energy Politics, and Nuclear Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam and Russia signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant in Vietnam as the Southeast Asian country revives its nuclear plans with hopes of boosting energy security while curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The deal for the Ninh Thuan 1 plant, reported by Vietnamese state media, comes after two similar projects were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam and Russia signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant in Vietnam as the Southeast Asian country revives its nuclear plans with hopes of boosting energy security while curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The deal for the Ninh Thuan 1 plant, reported by Vietnamese state media, comes after two similar projects were shelved in 2016 over rising costs and safety issues. The agreement was signed Monday during Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s visit to Moscow, where he met his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin. The two countries described the plant as a “symbolic project” of their friendship, according to Vietnam’s official government newspaper. The new plant also fits with Vietnam&#8217;s ambitions to become rich by 2050 by growing into Asia’s next “tiger economy.&#8221; The deal outlines plans to build two Russian-designed reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts, which are based on an existing plant in Russia. Concerns over energy security have sharpened since the war in Iran triggered a global energy shortage, raising the cost of imported fossil fuels and adding urgency to Hanoi’s search for stable, long-term power sources. Across Southeast Asia, fast-growing economies are turning to nuclear power for cleaner, more reliable energy. Advocates say it offers lower emissions than coal, oil and gas, while newer technology has made reactors safer, smaller and cheaper to build. Beyond nuclear energy, Monday&#8217;s meeting in Moscow included discussion of expanding cooperation in oil and gas, technology and infrastructure. Vietnam and Russia have maintained ties since 1950, rooted in the Cold War. But economic links&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/vietnam-and-russia-advance-nuclear-power-deal-as-energy-security-concerns-grow-in-southeast-asia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/vietnam-and-russia-advance-nuclear-power-deal-as-energy-security-concerns-grow-in-southeast-asia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>From forest to flatpack, IKEA faces timber traceability test under EUDR</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 15:59:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06113832/k.-PH_204034_e2202bf1c8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315346</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Eastern Europe, Europe, European Union, Global, Poland, Romania, Southeast Asia, Sweden, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Industry, Natural Resources, Regulations, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Timber, and wood]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Furniture giant IKEA is famous for its wood products, but it may soon need to tighten oversight of its supply chains due to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation that comes into force at the end of this year. The Swedish company sources timber from both inside and outside the EU, with major source markets including [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Furniture giant IKEA is famous for its wood products, but it may soon need to tighten oversight of its supply chains due to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation that comes into force at the end of this year. The Swedish company sources timber from both inside and outside the EU, with major source markets including Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and China. It processed nearly 15 million cubic meters (530 million cubic feet) of wood in the fiscal year 2025. IKEA already emphasizes its commitment to sustainable forestry practices, which include ensuring that close to 100% of its timber has acquired voluntary sustainability certification or is recycled. However, investigations in 2024 revealed issues among some of IKEA’s suppliers in Romania, suggesting that even companies committed to sustainable forestry may benefit from the more rigorous traceability requirements under the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR. To comply with the EUDR, companies must report geolocation data that proves a relevant commodity, whether domestic or imported, was not produced on land deforested after December 2020. “The IKEA business remains committed to responsible sourcing practices that ensure our products and operations do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation,” IKEA wrote in a statement to Mongabay. IKEA flatpack. Image by IKEA.com. However, the company also highlighted ongoing uncertainties regarding the EUDR requirements and implementation timeline. Adopted in 2023, the EUDR aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect global biodiversity by monitoring the supply chains of seven key deforestation-linked commodities entering the EU market: wood, cattle,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>The promise and perils of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 09:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pham Phan Long]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/30141735/communities-tonle-sap-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315485</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Dams, electricity, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Fish, Freshwater, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Hydropower, Law, Mekong Dams, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year milestone in November 2025 painted a picture of “shared prosperity.” Officials highlighted flood warnings, environmental studies, and even China’s data-sharing nods. Despite the MRC’s claim that “working together is the only way forward” with “new solutions” to keep the Mekong a “river of life, not conflict,” this optimistic rhetoric has echoed for 30 years. In reality, the river faces “a death by a thousand cuts” — cumulative degradation from dams, sediment loss, sand mining, altered flows, and Lake Tonle Sap’s natural regulating role severely undermined — all of which the MRC’s 30-year approach has failed to stop. The 1995 Mekong Agreement and the disasters of dam-building spree Before 1995, the lower Mekong mainstream had zero large dams. The 1995 Agreement altered that. Laos built Xayaburi, operational since 2019, and Don Sahong, running since 2020. Those two alone sparked outrage from Cambodia and Vietnam over blocked fish routes and lost sediment. The PNPCA process, for prior notification and consultation, was supposed to lead to agreement. Instead, Laos treated objections as background noise and pushed ahead. Vietnam’s own tributary dams number 81; Laos, 75. Together, the basin’s total planned hydropower capacity is 23 gigawatts, drawing $50 billion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>U.S.&#8217; hunger for Halloween trinkets is killing Vietnam&#8217;s painted woolly bats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 13:31:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06154617/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315361</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, North America, Southeast Asia, United States, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Cites, Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Hunting, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With hues of orange and black on its wings and a furry, fluffy face, the painted woolly bat is a stunner. But its beauty has become a deadly liability. People want to hang the bats — dead and stuffed — on their walls, display them as collectibles and even set them in jewelry. In recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With hues of orange and black on its wings and a furry, fluffy face, the painted woolly bat is a stunner. But its beauty has become a deadly liability. People want to hang the bats — dead and stuffed — on their walls, display them as collectibles and even set them in jewelry. In recent years, taxidermied and framed bats have become popular as Halloween décor and, oddly, as Christmas tree decorations, sold to customers in the U.S., as well as Europe and Canada. This macabre trade first came to light in 2015 when scientists found dead bats, including painted woolly bats, for sale in Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City. Then, nearly a decade later, scientists realized that it wasn’t just a few stores selling bats: There’s also a huge online market. In 2024, researchers from the Bat Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, documented nearly 800 bats for sale on Amazon.com, eBay and Etsy over a three-month period. Their “Dying for décor” study, published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research, suggests that the trade is global. A quarter of the bats sold online were from a single species: painted woolly bats (Kerivoula picta). After a successful awareness campaign by conservation organizations, eBay and Etsy banned the sale of bat products on their sites in 2025. Painted woolly bats are nocturnal and sparsely distributed in the landscape, roosting in small groups. Image by faridmuzaki via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Now, a new study&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Mekong sand mining risks collapse of SE Asia’s largest freshwater lake, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mekong-sand-mining-risks-collapse-of-se-asias-largest-freshwater-lake-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mekong-sand-mining-risks-collapse-of-se-asias-largest-freshwater-lake-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2025 11:08:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/23105515/20250612_UoS_00005-scaled-e1766487408383-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311946</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Dredging, Environment, Farming, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Mining, Rivers, and Tropical Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rampant sand mining in the Mekong River is directly weakening critical seasonal river flows that sustain Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, new research indicates. The Mekong’s annual wet season flood pulse that feeds water into Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake has been dwindling year by year. Experts have long pointed to upstream hydropower dams in China [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rampant sand mining in the Mekong River is directly weakening critical seasonal river flows that sustain Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, new research indicates. The Mekong’s annual wet season flood pulse that feeds water into Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake has been dwindling year by year. Experts have long pointed to upstream hydropower dams in China and Laos that trap sediments and alter the Mekong’s flow, combined with droughts intensified by climate change, as major drivers of the gargantuan river system’s declining vitality. A new study by researchers from the U.K. and Vietnam now shows that sand mining in the Lower Mekong Basin countries of Cambodia and Vietnam has a far greater impact on the flood pulse-lake dynamics than previously understood. “Upstream dams do have a measurable effect,” said lead author Quan Le, a flood risk researcher at Loughborough University in the U.K. “However, the primary driver of the declining Tonle Sap flood pulse is extensive downstream sand mining.” The Mekong’s heartbeat Tonle Sap Lake, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, lies within the lower basin of the Mekong River, the world’s second-most biodiverse aquatic ecosystem (after the Amazon). Each wet season, the lake swells up to five times in size as the Mekong’s annual flood pulse surges up the Tonle Sap River, reversing its flow. The situation then flips during the dry season, when water flows out of the lake downstream into the densely populated Mekong Delta. This rhythmic expansion and contraction is often referred to as the Mekong’s “heartbeat” due to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mekong-sand-mining-risks-collapse-of-se-asias-largest-freshwater-lake-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Already disappearing, Southeast Asia’s striped rabbits now caught in global pet trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/already-disappearing-southeast-asias-striped-rabbits-now-caught-in-global-pet-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/already-disappearing-southeast-asias-striped-rabbits-now-caught-in-global-pet-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Nov 2025 12:40:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/25083030/Annamite_striped_rabbit_Nesolagus_timminsi-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310103</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cites, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Governance, Habitat Loss, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Mammals, Pet Trade, Pets, Poaching, Rodents, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the remote rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Annamite Mountains straddling Vietnam and Laos, two species of nocturnal rabbits live elusive lives. These species, both of which have distinctive black stripes coloring their fur, are each known to occur in only a single habitat: the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri) is found only in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the remote rainforest of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Annamite Mountains straddling Vietnam and Laos, two species of nocturnal rabbits live elusive lives. These species, both of which have distinctive black stripes coloring their fur, are each known to occur in only a single habitat: the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri) is found only in the western and southern parts of the island, and the Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi) saunters the Annamites. Both species are threatened by disappearing and ever-degraded rainforest habitats, and illegal snaring and poaching, pushing them to the brink of extinction. The IUCN Red List classifies Annamite striped rabbits as endangered and Sumatran striped rabbits as data deficient, meaning scientists do not know how many of them are left in the wild or how well their populations are faring. In a recent paper published in the journal Oryx, conservationists highlight an additional emerging threat to the species: international smuggling for the pet trade. A spate of recent seizures of live striped rabbits in India, which has seen increasing seizures of exotic wildlife species from across the world, highlights the growing trade in the species. All of the seized individuals came from Thailand, which has a thriving wildlife market. Indian authorities identified all seized rabbits as the Sumatran species, but the paper’s authors question that claim. The two species, despite having evolved separately for nearly 8 million years, are so similar that scientists have to peer into their DNA to tell them apart, or use a Vernier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/already-disappearing-southeast-asias-striped-rabbits-now-caught-in-global-pet-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Protecting Vietnam’s vast caves may have sparked a wildlife comeback</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/protecting-vietnams-vast-caves-may-have-sparked-a-wildlife-comeback/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/protecting-vietnams-vast-caves-may-have-sparked-a-wildlife-comeback/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2025 03:23:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Joshua Zukas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/11060141/Maze-cave-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309239</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Caves, Conservation, Ecotourism, Environment, Environmental Law, Exploration, Sustainability, Tourism, Travel, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thirty-five years ago, a Vietnamese hunter stumbled across the biggest cave on the planet — then promptly lost it. Hồ Khanh was deep in the 400-million-year-old karst limestone landscape that straddles central Vietnam and Laos. Beneath Hồ’s feet lay wet cave systems that spanned hundreds of kilometers, but his focus was on the tangled jungle [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thirty-five years ago, a Vietnamese hunter stumbled across the biggest cave on the planet — then promptly lost it. Hồ Khanh was deep in the 400-million-year-old karst limestone landscape that straddles central Vietnam and Laos. Beneath Hồ’s feet lay wet cave systems that spanned hundreds of kilometers, but his focus was on the tangled jungle above. Here he hunted slow lorises, which he hawked as pets, and pangolins, whose scales are used in traditional medicine (and which perhaps helped spread COVID-19 from bats to humans). What he prized most, however, was agarwood, a rare, valuable and fragrant heartwood that could be carved into ornaments or burned as incense. When a sudden storm broke, Hồ slipped into a cave for cover. The hammering rain blurred the world into noise, yet it couldn’t drown out the blustering chambers from the cave’s dark depths. When the skies cleared, Hồ resumed his hunt. With time, the memory of this small crack in the mountain dimmed, and Hồ returned to his primary income source: looting the jungle. “Back then, we barely saw any wildlife,” recalls Howard Limbert, who began exploring the wilderness’s caves with his wife, Deb, in the 1990s. After several expeditions with the British Caving Association (BCA) in what became Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in 2001, the Limberts were convinced that the region concealed vast, unknown caves. In 2007, when they heard Hồ’s story of a narrow opening that led to howling chambers, their curiosity was piqued. The three struck up a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/protecting-vietnams-vast-caves-may-have-sparked-a-wildlife-comeback/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Asian golden cat range expands, but declines continue amid rising threats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/asian-golden-cat-range-expands-but-declines-continue-amid-rising-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/asian-golden-cat-range-expands-but-declines-continue-amid-rising-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Nov 2025 15:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/07124346/Image_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Animals]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Camera Trapping, Cats, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Fragmentation, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Predators, Research, Small Cats, Snares, Species, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A single camera trap image of an Asian golden cat, photographed in Nepal&#8217;s Jajarkot district, has expanded this felid species’ range westward by nearly 400 kilometers (248 miles). Out of nearly 60,000 camera trap images snapped in 2024 in the district, this elusive cat showed itself just once. It’s likely, says Badri Baral, program coordinator [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A single camera trap image of an Asian golden cat, photographed in Nepal&#8217;s Jajarkot district, has expanded this felid species’ range westward by nearly 400 kilometers (248 miles). Out of nearly 60,000 camera trap images snapped in 2024 in the district, this elusive cat showed itself just once. It’s likely, says Badri Baral, program coordinator with Nature Conservation Initiative Nepal, that more Asian golden cats could be found between Jajarkot and the Gaurishankar Conservation Area, an area until recently believed to mark the felid’s farthest westward distribution. This positive news about the elusive wildcat, which dwells in forests across South and Southeast Asia, comes at nearly the same time as bad news, as its IUCN status went from near threatened to vulnerable. A single camera trap image of an Asian golden cat from Jajarkot, has extended its range by nearly 400 kilometers westward in Nepal. Image courtesy of Badri Baral/NCI-Nepal. Researchers say the Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) was likely once abundant across its range. That’s not the case today, with numbers thinned and populations lost due to an excess of threats including deforestation, snaring, and retaliatory killings. Those risks, along with more accurate occurrence and population data featured in IUCN’s 2023 species assessment, are behind the revised threat status. The shift to vulnerable “represents a genuine concern,” says Thomas Gray, Tiger Landscape and Recovery Lead with the WWF Tigers Alive Initiative, who was part of the assessment team. The new IUCN listing also highlights the challenges of assigning a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/asian-golden-cat-range-expands-but-declines-continue-amid-rising-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Witch Hunt: Virulent fungal disease attacks South America’s cassava crop</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/witch-hunt-virulent-fungal-disease-attacks-south-americas-cassava-crop/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/witch-hunt-virulent-fungal-disease-attacks-south-americas-cassava-crop/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2025 16:20:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Dickie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/04133603/0-Amazon64_lo_2_5658784964-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308791</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Asia, Brazil, French Guiana, Laos, Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Amazon Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Food, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Crop Yields, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Fungi, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforest Agriculture, Subsistence Agriculture, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As smallholder farmers in French Guiana walked their fields in 2023, they noted a disturbing pattern. Their healthy cassava plants, once green and thriving, had begun to turn yellow. Leaves wilted, stalks withered, and small shoots looking like broomsticks sprouted from the plants. When they dug up their harvest, instead of unearthing large foot-long bunches [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As smallholder farmers in French Guiana walked their fields in 2023, they noted a disturbing pattern. Their healthy cassava plants, once green and thriving, had begun to turn yellow. Leaves wilted, stalks withered, and small shoots looking like broomsticks sprouted from the plants. When they dug up their harvest, instead of unearthing large foot-long bunches of cassava, they found only stunted roots. The farmers reported the crisis to agricultural authorities, desperate to find a cure for their threatened crop. When international scientists arrived in 2024 to investigate the blight, they recognized their foe immediately. The witch had arrived in Latin America. Witches’ broom disease is a fungal pathogen, Ceratobasidium theobromae, that has been wreaking havoc on cassava crops in Southeast Asia for more than a decade, crippling yields and fueling economic hardship across that region. Plant scientists had hoped to contain the fungal pathogen to Asia. But since its arrival in South America in 2023, the disease — which attacks the plant’s vascular system — has spread into at least three Amazonian nations: It arrived first in French Guiana, is likely in Suriname, and is now sweeping through cassava production regions in the neighboring northern Brazilian state of Amapá, where it has decimated entire fields, and is also present in Pará state. Cooking cassava in Brazil. Cassava, also known as manioc and yuca, and for its tapioca flour, is native to South America, and an excellent source of carbohydrates. Image by Dennis G. Jarvis via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/witch-hunt-virulent-fungal-disease-attacks-south-americas-cassava-crop/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Floods kill 13 in Central Vietnam as rescue operations push forward</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/floods-kill-13-in-central-vietnam-as-rescue-operations-push-forward/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/floods-kill-13-in-central-vietnam-as-rescue-operations-push-forward/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2025 18:12:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/31181039/AP25304486978152-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=308676</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Extreme Weather, and Flooding]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Rescue operations intensified Friday across central Vietnam as floodwaters receded after days of record rain and deadly landslides that left at least 13 people dead, 11 missing and tens of thousands displaced. The receding waters allowed rescue teams to reach previously cut-off communities and nearly 26,000 residents have been evacuated from flooded or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Rescue operations intensified Friday across central Vietnam as floodwaters receded after days of record rain and deadly landslides that left at least 13 people dead, 11 missing and tens of thousands displaced. The receding waters allowed rescue teams to reach previously cut-off communities and nearly 26,000 residents have been evacuated from flooded or landslide-prone areas. The government deployed helicopters and troops to deliver food, medicine and other supplies while working to repair homes, clear debris and prevent disease. Roads, power lines and schools are being restored, and emergency rice aid is set for distribution by Saturday. The country’s North–South railway, a key transport route linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, reopened early Friday after being cut off for three days. Hundreds of workers labored overnight to repair damaged sections and stabilize the tracks. Flooding has eased in the coastal cities of Hue and Danang but remains widespread and is expected to persist for the next two days, according to state media. Since torrential rain began Oct. 26, floods and landslides have submerged homes and villages and destroyed infrastructure across the region. Hue recorded 1,085 millimeters (42 inches) of rain in just 24 hours earlier this week — the highest daily rainfall ever measured in Vietnam. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered emergency measures to speed recovery and ensure no one is left hungry or without shelter. About 120,000 homes were inundated by the floods across central Vietnam, with 56 houses completely destroyed and 147 badly damaged, according&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/floods-kill-13-in-central-vietnam-as-rescue-operations-push-forward/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2025 02:17:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/27015457/Laos-rare-earth-mine-leaching-ponds-2025-banner-image-V1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308321</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Drinking Water, Endangered Species, extractives, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Illegal Mining, International Trade, Mining, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rivers, Toxicology, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New data show a recent proliferation of rare earth mines across river basins in Laos, potentially posing a transboundary water pollution threat to Vietnam and the entire Mekong River system. The new findings suggest that Chinese demand for rare earth minerals has led to the industry’s expansion into Laos, even though rare earth mineral [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New data show a recent proliferation of rare earth mines across river basins in Laos, potentially posing a transboundary water pollution threat to Vietnam and the entire Mekong River system. The new findings suggest that Chinese demand for rare earth minerals has led to the industry’s expansion into Laos, even though rare earth mineral extraction is currently illegal there. Research from U.S.-based think tank the Stimson Center has identified 27 rare earth mines that have opened across river basins in Laos since 2022, including seven identified via satellite imagery analysis as having opened this year. Twenty-three of these mines appear to be in protected areas, but it’s unclear whether or not they’re operating with permission from officials. Fifteen of these mines are operating within the Mekong River Basin: 12 on the Nam Khan River and three on the Nam Ngiep River, both of which feed into the Mekong, the roughly 4,900-kilometer (3,000-mile) river that flows from Tibet through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea. The Mekong River Basin is a biodiversity hotspot that sustains the lives of more than 50 million people who rely on it for food, water and livelihoods. Another 10 rare earth mines were identified by the Stimson Center on the Nam Hao and Nam Xan rivers, in the Ma River Basin, where they not only pose a transboundary risk to Vietnam, but also to the Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area on the border of Laos and Vietnam,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Authorities in Vietnam bust wildlife smugglers with tons of rare animal parts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/authorities-in-vietnam-bust-wildlife-smugglers-with-tons-of-rare-animal-parts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/authorities-in-vietnam-bust-wildlife-smugglers-with-tons-of-rare-animal-parts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2025 10:34:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/09103252/imagecrop-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=307296</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Poaching, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Crime, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam’s border guard command has seized more than 7 metric tons of rare wildlife body parts from two wooden fishing boats moving goods from Indonesia to the southern Vietnamese province of Vinh Long. The boats were found on Oct. 3 and contained 4.2 metric tons of suspected pangolin scales, nearly 1.6 metric tons of fish [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam’s border guard command has seized more than 7 metric tons of rare wildlife body parts from two wooden fishing boats moving goods from Indonesia to the southern Vietnamese province of Vinh Long. The boats were found on Oct. 3 and contained 4.2 metric tons of suspected pangolin scales, nearly 1.6 metric tons of fish skin, 150 python skins, 2.3 kilograms (5 pounds) of fish gills, and 39 bird beaks, among other rare items such as teeth, bones and hides, Tuổi Trẻ News reported. The two individuals operating the boats, Vietnamese citizen Pham Van Hoan and an Indonesian citizen identified as Syamsadi, did not have documents or invoices to prove the legal origin of the products, nor documentation for the vessels. Vincent Nijman, a researcher who leads the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group at Oxford Brookes University, U.K, told Mongabay in a video call that the 39 bird beaks belong to critically endangered helmeted hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil), a rare species that lives in large trees in the rainforests of Borneo, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. A critically endangered helmeted hornbill. Image by Ian Dugdale via iNaturalist (CC BY 4.0). Nijman estimated that the amount of pangolin scales would have required killing and skinning approximately 12,000 pangolins. He said these came from the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), a species also listed as critically endangered. “If you manage to get 12,000 pangolins killed and skinned, if you get 39 beheaded hornbills, if you get 1.6 tons of fish skin — if you can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/10/authorities-in-vietnam-bust-wildlife-smugglers-with-tons-of-rare-animal-parts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/protected-areas-hit-hard-as-mekong-countries-forest-cover-shrank-in-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/protected-areas-hit-hard-as-mekong-countries-forest-cover-shrank-in-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2025 03:33:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Environmental Crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydropower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Logging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Industrial Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landscape Restoration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Logging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Luxury timber]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/22033617/DJI_0794-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Global Forest Watch, Governance, Hydropower, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Timber Trade, Industrial Agriculture, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Reforestation, satellite data, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — The Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined area of tree cover of nearly a million hectares in 2024, or an area almost the size of Lebanon. That’s according to Mongabay’s analysis* of satellite data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — The Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined area of tree cover of nearly a million hectares in 2024, or an area almost the size of Lebanon. That’s according to Mongabay’s analysis* of satellite data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, in partnership with Global Forest Watch (GFW). GFW data show 991,801 hectares (2.45 million acres) of tree cover were lost in 2024, including nearly 220,000 hectares (544,000 acres) of primary forest, across the five Mekong countries. More than 30% of tree cover loss recorded in 2024 occurred inside protected areas, although across the region, the rate of deforestation — both within protected areas and outside of them — slowed slightly from 2023. Despite this, the drivers of deforestation vary somewhat from country to country, and last year’s losses still reflect a grim trajectory for forests in the Mekong region. The economies of almost all Mekong countries are heavily reliant on agriculture, with forests cleared for both agribusiness-run plantations or subsistence farming plots. But research indicates the conversion of forest to croplands has resulted in increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and subsequently poorer agricultural yields. Illegal logging has also ravaged the Mekong’s forests, while large-scale infrastructure projects threaten critical ecosystems. Global Forest Watch data was used to calculate national level tree cover loss, while Mongabay&#8217;s analysis of GLAD data was used to calculate forest loss inside protected areas. Image by Andrés Alegría / Mongabay. Calamity in Cambodia’s protected&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/protected-areas-hit-hard-as-mekong-countries-forest-cover-shrank-in-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Typhoon Bualoi death toll rises to 26 in Vietnam, with many missing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/typhoon-bualoi-death-toll-rises-to-26-in-vietnam-with-many-missing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/typhoon-bualoi-death-toll-rises-to-26-in-vietnam-with-many-missing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2025 19:36:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/30192445/AP25273278827671-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=306844</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Extreme Weather, Flooding, and Typhoons]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The search continued on Tuesday for 22 people still missing following Typhoon Bualoi that caused flooding and landslides in Vietnam and has killed at least 26. Eight fishermen are among those unaccounted for, as well as four members of the same family — a father, a mother and two children — in Tuyen [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The search continued on Tuesday for 22 people still missing following Typhoon Bualoi that caused flooding and landslides in Vietnam and has killed at least 26. Eight fishermen are among those unaccounted for, as well as four members of the same family — a father, a mother and two children — in Tuyen Quang province who were buried when a landslide struck their house, state media said. Rainfall topped 30 centimeters (nearly a foot) in parts of Vietnam, including the capital, Hanoi, over the past 24 hours, the national weather agency said Tuesday. It warned that heavy downpours would continue. The prolonged rain triggered flash floods and landslides that cut off roads and isolated communities from the northern mountains of Son La and Lao Cai provinces to central Nghe An province. Rivers swollen by downpours and dam discharges have also caused widespread flooding and landslides in the north. The Thao River in Yen Bai rose well above emergency levels overnight, sending water up to a meter deep (3 feet) into homes and forcing evacuations. The near-continuous downpours throughout Tuesday meant that most streets in Hanoi were flooded and authorities warned that people close to the Red River, which passes through the city, should take precautions. Flights at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport were diverted or delayed because of heavy rain. Many schools were forced to close by mid-day and about 2.3 million Hanoi students will stay home on Oct 1. Because of the same storm system, authorities have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/typhoon-bualoi-death-toll-rises-to-26-in-vietnam-with-many-missing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>To track a unicorn: Laos team goes all out to find the last saolas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/to-track-a-unicorn-laos-team-goes-all-out-to-find-the-last-saolas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/to-track-a-unicorn-laos-team-goes-all-out-to-find-the-last-saolas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Sep 2025 04:49:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/02105213/8-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306770</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cattle, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Critically Endangered Species, DNA, Environment, Forests, Green, Innovation In Conservation, Mammals, Snares, Technology And Conservation, Tracking, Ungulates, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Few people have the opportunity to meet near-mythical beasts in real life — but Rob Timmins has. He’s one of the few biologists ever to spend time with a saola, a wild ox once known as the “Asian unicorn,” and arguably the most threatened large mammal on the planet. First described by science in 1993, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Few people have the opportunity to meet near-mythical beasts in real life — but Rob Timmins has. He’s one of the few biologists ever to spend time with a saola, a wild ox once known as the “Asian unicorn,” and arguably the most threatened large mammal on the planet. First described by science in 1993, the species, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, has only ever been recorded alive a handful of times: five camera-trap detections, and a few individuals briefly held in captivity. Timmins met one of those captive animals, a female named Martha, in 1996 after she was captured by villagers in Laos and taken to a nearby facility. She survived there only a few weeks before passing away. Martha was “truly beautiful amidst all the sadness of her captivity,” says Timmins, who is now chief technical adviser of the Saola Foundation for Annamite Mountain Conservation. “In behavior, [she] was very unlike any other ungulate I’d ever seen. Very docile, seemingly very calm.” The saola’s peaceful nature has in fact earned it a nickname in a Lao dialect: Saat Supphap, which means “polite animal.” The species is considered so evolutionarily distinct it’s placed in a genus of its own. Sporting a hefty pair of dark horns, a sloping back and bold flashes of white across the face, saolas resemble antelopes, yet their closest living relatives are wild cattle like gaur and buffalo. Yet the world is on the cusp of losing this gentle, one-of-a-kind mammal forever, before scientists have even begun to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/to-track-a-unicorn-laos-team-goes-all-out-to-find-the-last-saolas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Shrinking Mekong megafish underlines risks to the river, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2025 14:16:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/26093159/imgonline-com-ua-FrameBlurred-mmealfk1s0NBv-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304811</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater Animals, Freshwater Ecosystems, Freshwater Fish, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Destruction, Habitat Loss, Megafauna, Mekong Dams, Overfishing, Research, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water Pollution, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The megafish of the Mekong River are shrinking, a new study has found. In the most comprehensive analysis of species size in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong Basin, researchers have tracked a generational shrinkage among the river’s iconic gargantuan fish, which are among the largest freshwater fish in the world. The size decline in the Mekong [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The megafish of the Mekong River are shrinking, a new study has found. In the most comprehensive analysis of species size in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong Basin, researchers have tracked a generational shrinkage among the river’s iconic gargantuan fish, which are among the largest freshwater fish in the world. The size decline in the Mekong is a troubling trend for the ecosystem on which more than 65 million people across six countries depend. It also mirrors shrinkages of other megafauna in river basins around the world. “At its core, the analysis shows that the Mekong River’s biggest, slowest-to-mature fish species, and especially those at highest risk of extinction, are the ones shrinking fastest,” Zeb Hogan, a co-author of the study and biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, said in an interview with Mongabay. “Declining fish size isn’t just a symptom of overfishing — it’s a warning sign of deeper population instability.” A Mekong giant catfish release in 2007. Image courtesy of Zeb Hogan with Wonders of the Mekong. The study results are based on more than seven years of catch-monitoring data that tracked 257 species across 23 sites in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. More than 397,000 samples were collected from mid-2007 to mid-2014. These samples were compared to historical data from conservation information hub FishBase and the Mekong River Commission’s fisheries monitoring database. Changes in fish body size are a key indicator of fish stock health that informs fisheries management and conservation planning. Small and medium-sized fish species didn’t&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/shrinking-mekong-megafish-underlines-risks-to-the-river-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Vietnam evacuates hundreds of thousands as typhoon Kajiki nears landfall</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/vietnam-evacuates-hundreds-of-thousands-as-typhoon-kajiki-nears-landfall/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/vietnam-evacuates-hundreds-of-thousands-as-typhoon-kajiki-nears-landfall/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2025 17:39:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/25173654/AP24257381751767-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=304892</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Storms, and Typhoons]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and closed schools and airports as it braces for Typhoon Kajiki, its strongest storm of the year so far. Forecasters said the typhoon had winds of up to 166 kilometers (103 miles) per hour at 10 a.m. Monday but is expected to weaken [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and closed schools and airports as it braces for Typhoon Kajiki, its strongest storm of the year so far. Forecasters said the typhoon had winds of up to 166 kilometers (103 miles) per hour at 10 a.m. Monday but is expected to weaken slightly before making landfall between central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces later in the afternoon. The typhoon started as a weak tropical depression on Aug. 22 but grew into a powerful storm in less than two days, matching last year&#8217;s Typhoon Yagi as one of the region&#8217;s fastest-growing, according to state media. Its rapid strengthening forced Vietnamese authorities to rush emergency measures as strong winds and heavy rain hit the region. Last year, Typhoon Yagi killed about 300 people and caused $3.3 billion in damage. Kajiki has already caused devastation in China, with strong winds and heavy rain whipping Hainan Island and nearby parts of Guangdong province on Sunday. About 20,000 people were evacuated from high-risk areas, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. One man in Nghe An province died Friday after being electrocuted while trying to secure his roof ahead of the storm, state media reported. The storm is expected to move inland into Laos and northern Thailand. Vietnamese state media reported plans to evacuate nearly 600,000 people in the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Hue and Danang, where more than 152,000 homes are in high-risk areas. The government said over 16,500 soldiers and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/vietnam-evacuates-hundreds-of-thousands-as-typhoon-kajiki-nears-landfall/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Sustainable biomass certification scheme is flawed, degrades forests, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sustainable-biomass-certification-scheme-is-flawed-degrades-forests-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sustainable-biomass-certification-scheme-is-flawed-degrades-forests-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Aug 2025 15:58:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/29131303/Drax-is-the-largest-consumer-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304702</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Bioenergy and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Canada, Europe, Global, Indonesia, Japan, North America, South Korea, Southeast Asia, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioenergy, Biofuels, Biomass Burning, carbon, Certification, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Forests, Climate Change Policy, Conservation, Environment, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forests, Government, Green Energy, Sustainability, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) is a leading global biomass certification scheme offering assurances to end users (especially nations in the EU and Asia) that biomass (especially wood pellets for energy) is “sourced both legally and sustainably.” But a recent report by a group of environmental NGOs alleges SBP is approving biomass fuel projects linked [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) is a leading global biomass certification scheme offering assurances to end users (especially nations in the EU and Asia) that biomass (especially wood pellets for energy) is “sourced both legally and sustainably.” But a recent report by a group of environmental NGOs alleges SBP is approving biomass fuel projects linked to forest destruction. While SBP-certified biomass meets minimum legal requirements, it often falls short of genuine sustainability, according to the July 2025 report written by Canada-based forest certification and governance expert Richard Robertson. The analysis was commissioned by five nonprofits: Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), the Global Environmental Forum (GEF), Mighty Earth, Biofuelwatch, and the Environmental Paper Network (EPN). The booming biomass-for-energy industry touts wood pellets and chips as a winning climate solution. But the report notes that this assertion is based on a faulty carbon accounting loophole that counts significant smokestack emissions from biomass as zero. Numerous studies have shown that biomass burning is more carbon-intensive than coal per unit of energy produced. Billions of dollars in green energy subsidies have been paid out by European and Asian nations to the biomass industry, spurring demand for woody biomass and putting pressure on carbon-rich forests in the United States, Canada, Vietnam, South Korea, Europe, Indonesia and elsewhere. Many end-user nations have put their trust in SBP for sustainability certification. But years of criticism from forest advocates and climate experts have led major importers, such as the U.K. and Japan, to tighten sustainability requirements for subsidized&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sustainable-biomass-certification-scheme-is-flawed-degrades-forests-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Dang Dinh Bach: He fought for clean air. Now he breathes through bars.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/dang-dinh-bach-he-fought-for-clean-air-now-he-breathes-through-bars/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/dang-dinh-bach-he-fought-for-clean-air-now-he-breathes-through-bars/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2025 12:17:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/31154604/3160f414-972a-454c-a5b5-0bd36128c992-768x512-1.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=304146</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asia and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Coal, Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Green, Human Rights, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. It wasn’t the first time the Vietnamese authorities had accused someone of tax evasion. But few such cases have ended in a five-year prison sentence. Fewer still have involved a man whose life was defined by public service: [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. It wasn’t the first time the Vietnamese authorities had accused someone of tax evasion. But few such cases have ended in a five-year prison sentence. Fewer still have involved a man whose life was defined by public service: An environmental lawyer who trained young attorneys, comforted poisoned communities, and helped rewrite the nation’s environmental laws, reports contributor Jenny Denton for Mongabay. On June 24, 2021, when Dang Dinh Bach was taken from his Hanoi home just two weeks after the birth of his son, there was no doubt among those who knew him: this was punishment for his activism, not his accounting. Bach was not a dissident in the traditional sense. He believed in working with government officials, not against them. His organization, the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Centre, was known for its pragmatic, community-rooted advocacy — for helping villagers affected by coal pollution, industrial toxins and dam displacement navigate Vietnam’s legal system. He helped usher in a review of Vietnam’s Environmental Protection Law and contributed to restrictions on asbestos and plastic waste. He saw the law not as a tool of resistance, but as a force for reform. That changed in 2021, after Bach helped lead 17 days of protest against coal expansion. The state responded not with dialogue, but with handcuffs. He was tried behind closed doors, denied access to his lawyers until days before trial, and sentenced&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/dang-dinh-bach-he-fought-for-clean-air-now-he-breathes-through-bars/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Rapid development, legal changes put pressure on Vietnam’s forestland</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/rapid-development-legal-changes-put-pressure-on-vietnams-forestland-2/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/rapid-development-legal-changes-put-pressure-on-vietnams-forestland-2/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2025 05:12:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Le Quynh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/01152410/4-Resident-Huynh-Ngoc-Van-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303615</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Conservation, Development, Environment, environmental justice, Environmental Law, Fishing, Governance, Industry, Islands, Land Rights, Law, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHÚ QUỐC ISLAND, Vietnam — Rạch Tràm fishing village stretches along the northern coast of Vietnam’s Phú Quốc Island. Surrounded on three sides by the forests of Phú Quốc National Park and facing the Gulf of Thailand on the other, with Cambodia visible across the water, the village has until recently been part of a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHÚ QUỐC ISLAND, Vietnam — Rạch Tràm fishing village stretches along the northern coast of Vietnam’s Phú Quốc Island. Surrounded on three sides by the forests of Phú Quốc National Park and facing the Gulf of Thailand on the other, with Cambodia visible across the water, the village has until recently been part of a pristine river-forest-sea ecosystem. For generations, Rạch Tràm was accessible only by water or by a narrow dirt path running through Phú Quốc National Park. However, during a visit in late April 2025, the village was in a state of disarray, with homes dismantled and land dug up for construction. In 2017, the former Kiên Giang Provincial People’s Committee (former Kiên Giang province is now part of the An Giang province), the local governmental body, approved the Rạch Tràm Ecotourism and Residential Project. Then, in 2023, the existing pathway through the forest was widened into a broad asphalt road, with several adjacent forested areas marked for potential future development projects. The Rạch Tràm project, covering 172 hectares (425 acres), is being developed by Cityland Group — one of Vietnam’s leading real estate firms. It will eventually host multiple resorts, luxury villas and high-rise residential developments. To make way for it, 508 households in Rạch Tràm will be forced to relocate and 57.7 hectares (142.5 acres) of special-use forest within Phú Quốc National Park will be cleared. This forest is dense with large melaleuca trees. According to people in the village, the forest was home to deer,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/rapid-development-legal-changes-put-pressure-on-vietnams-forestland-2/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Jailed Vietnamese civil society leader wins award, boosting calls for his release</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/jailed-vietnamese-civil-society-leader-wins-award-boosting-calls-for-his-release/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/jailed-vietnamese-civil-society-leader-wins-award-boosting-calls-for-his-release/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Aug 2025 02:51:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jenny Denton]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/01075429/1377a3a8-39e5-4f09-a607-c0ecb8f326a2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303524</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Activism, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Activism, Human Rights, Politics, Pollution, Social Justice, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment, Vietnamese environmentalist Dang Dinh Bach, who was sentenced to five years on tax evasion charges, has been recognized with a prestigious international award. The 46-year-old was officially presented the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty in July by the president of the U.S.-based organization Human Rights First. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[On the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment, Vietnamese environmentalist Dang Dinh Bach, who was sentenced to five years on tax evasion charges, has been recognized with a prestigious international award. The 46-year-old was officially presented the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty in July by the president of the U.S.-based organization Human Rights First. The prize, which honors those who “champion human rights despite immense personal risk,” was accepted by Bach’s wife on his behalf in an online ceremony. The distinguished public interest lawyer had been chosen by an independent jury “in recognition of his lifetime commitment to protecting communities in Vietnam from the harmful effects of pollution and the climate crisis,” Human Rights First president Uzra Zeya said. According to Zeya, Bach’s detention has been marked by “rampant human rights violations,” including reports he had been beaten and mistreated. Bach has also undertaken several hunger strikes. On July 18, the U.N. Human Rights Committee published its findings on the fourth periodic review of Vietnam as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, expressing serious concerns over the treatment of political prisoners and increased restrictions on freedoms of association and expression and on independent civil society organizations, among other issues. A montage of dozens of signs and social media posts calling for Bach&#8217;s release. Image via StandWithBach.org. The four-year anniversary of Bach’s arrest sparked renewed calls from organizations around the world for his urgent and unconditional release, with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Asia Pacific&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/jailed-vietnamese-civil-society-leader-wins-award-boosting-calls-for-his-release/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Tropical Storm Wipha rampages through several Asian countries</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/tropical-storm-wipha-rampages-through-several-asian-countries/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/tropical-storm-wipha-rampages-through-several-asian-countries/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2025 10:55:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kristine Sabillo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/22105402/AP25202357411725-2-scaled-e1753181797337-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=302943</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Typhoons]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tropical Storm Wipha has left a trail of heavy flooding, landslides, strong winds and several deaths in parts of Southeast Asia over the past few days. The cyclone started as a low-pressure area east of the Philippines on July 15. By July 16, it had intensified into a tropical depression, according to the Philippine National [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tropical Storm Wipha has left a trail of heavy flooding, landslides, strong winds and several deaths in parts of Southeast Asia over the past few days. The cyclone started as a low-pressure area east of the Philippines on July 15. By July 16, it had intensified into a tropical depression, according to the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). As the storm strengthened over the next couple of days, it brought heavy rains throughout the Philippines, flooding several communities and making roads impassable. Dams were also forced to release water, local media said. The public works department said the disaster caused 526 million pesos ($9.2 million) in infrastructure damage. The storm and the Southwest Monsoon together affected more than 1.2 million people, with more than 20,000 of them forced to stay in evacuation centers. Almost 1,300 houses were partially or totally damaged. At least five people died and seven remain missing, according to the NDRRMC. In rural areas of the Philippines, heavy rain damaged high-value crops such as rice, tomato, eggplant and bitter gourd. Livestock, especially goats, were reportedly affected by hypothermia. Fishers in provinces south of the capital region were also affected, prompting a group to call for relief, media reported. By July 19, Wipha, known in the Philippines as Crising, had developed into a severe tropical storm, just as it exited the Philippine region. As it passed south of Taiwan that same day, domestic flights and ferry routes on the island were suspended or cancelled.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/tropical-storm-wipha-rampages-through-several-asian-countries/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Open burning of plastic is an escalating public health threat, say experts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2025 16:19:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/16132324/Image_9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302653</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central America, Ghana, Guatemala, Malawi, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, greenhouse gases, Health, Microplastics, Nature And Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Recycling, Toxicology, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa was a child, her mother sent her to market with a basket woven from grasses. “But now we don&#8217;t do that,” she says, because plastic has taken over most utilitarian purposes in today’s Malawi. “You go and you get a plastic carrier, and they&#8217;re usually not reusable plastics.” In many Malawi communities, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[When Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa was a child, her mother sent her to market with a basket woven from grasses. “But now we don&#8217;t do that,” she says, because plastic has taken over most utilitarian purposes in today’s Malawi. “You go and you get a plastic carrier, and they&#8217;re usually not reusable plastics.” In many Malawi communities, and across poorer nations worldwide, there is no waste collection or proper disposal. Instead, families faced with an onslaught of cheap plastic products — including single-use bags, bottles and diapers — commonly burn the waste in pits beside their homes. With a growing number of developing-world communities living beneath a pall of toxic petrochemical plastic smoke, Mzumara-Gawa is sounding the alarm. Now an ecologist at the Malawi University of Science and Technology and an environmental advocate with the NGO Tearfund, she says the widespread open burning of plastics is taking an increasingly heavy public health and environmental toll that is largely being ignored. Experts warn that many communities are resorting to the burning of plastic waste in households as fuel, while burning by industry to make energy is also becoming common. Add to this the vast volume of plastic waste dumped by the Global North on the Global South — waste that often ends up being incinerated without pollution controls. A dump site in Malaysia, a nation that recently blocked U.S. plastic waste exports. Shipments of plastic products and plastic waste from the Global North to the Global South are creating a flood of plastics&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Major coral loss in Vietnam’s first marine protected area: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2025 07:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/19094016/coral-reef-vietnam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300962</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Climate Change And Coral Reefs, Coastal Ecosystems, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Development, Habitat Degradation, Illegal Fishing, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Crisis, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Crisis, Oceans, Seagrass, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam’s first marine protected area, Nha Trang Bay, has lost nearly 200 hectares (494 acres) of coral reef since its creation in 2002, a new study shows. The alarming decline raises fresh questions about how effective conservation efforts have been in protecting one of the country’s most iconic coastal ecosystems. Published in April in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam’s first marine protected area, Nha Trang Bay, has lost nearly 200 hectares (494 acres) of coral reef since its creation in 2002, a new study shows. The alarming decline raises fresh questions about how effective conservation efforts have been in protecting one of the country’s most iconic coastal ecosystems. Published in April in the journal Water, the study by the Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center used remote sensing and machine learning to track coral changes across Nha Trang Bay’s 160-square-kilometer (62-square-mile) MPA. From 2002-24, about 191 hectares (472 acres) of coral reefs vanished, especially around Tre, Mun, Một, Tằm and Miễu islands. Despite having protected status since 2002, the bay’s reefs continue to shrink. Key drivers include land use change, warming seas and crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) outbreaks, according to the study. “Among these, land-use change—particularly from long-term landfill activities—emerged as the dominant driver of coral loss,” the authors wrote. The Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area and its functional zones are influenced by the Cai and Tac rivers. Image courtesy of Nguyen Trinh Duc Hieu/ Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center. Hoàng Công Tín is an expert in mapping marine habitats to enable conservation and sustainable use and dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at Vietnam&#8217;s Huế University. “Nha Trang Bay’s experience highlights a critical lesson: early designation of MPAs is not sufficient without adaptive, science-based management and active local engagement,” Hoàng, who was not involved in the study, told Mongabay by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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