Earth

How environmental change is shaping Southeast Asia.

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Mar 16, 2021 • 5 min read

Opinion Cambodia will lose its fight against deforestation if change isn’t made

By Nith Kosal • Mar 16, 2021
The US Embassy released a statement last week stating its deep concern over the continued destruction of Cambodia's forests and woodlands, but Future Forum researcher Nith Kosal says little will change without a major overhaul of the current approach

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Mar 14, 2021 • 4 min read

Opinion Vietnam’s wild tigers are extinct, but it still has a role to play in saving them

By Heather Sohl • Mar 14, 2021
After a recent damning investigation into tiger trafficking in Vietnam, World Wildlife Fund's Heather Sohl writes that despite its wild tiger population being extinct, the country still has a role to play in the animal's conservation through curbing demand for tiger products

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Feb 08, 2021 • 7 min read

Conservation On Bali, Ubud’s macaques adapt as tourist bananas disappear

By Elizabeth Sinclair • Feb 08, 2021
The pandemic has seen monkeys overrun cities in India and Thailand in search of food as tourism comes to a halt. But in Ubud, the macaques of Monkey Forest are adapting well to this new reality, with local residents seeing less aggressive and destructive behaviour

Earth • Jan 25, 2021 • 16 min read
Wildlife trade

Infiltrating a tiger trafficking network: From Laos to South Africa and Vietnam

The reporters go international in the second instalment of an investigative project infiltrating illegal tiger trafficking networks, visiting tiger farms in Laos and South Africa where they bread the animals to meet a taste for bone glue among wealthy Vietnamese consumers
By Lam Anh and Hoang Chien • Jan 25, 2021

Earth • Jan 22, 2021 • 4 min read
Covid-19

Deadliest catch: Thailand’s ‘ghost’ fishing nets help Covid fight

Underwater divers in plastic-choked waters off the coast of Thailand are snipping through discarded nets tangled around reefs in a new initiative helping protect marine life and aid the fight against coronavirus
By Dene-Hern Chen and Pitcha Dangprasith/AFP • Jan 22, 2021

Earth • Jan 20, 2021 • 4 min read
Tourism

Tourism on track in the world’s largest cave in Vietnam

As Covid-19 has swept the globe, international tourists to Vietnam have dropped sharply. But Son Doong cave, among the world's largest, has weathered the crisis thanks to a boost in visitors among Vietnam's fast-growing middle class
By Nhac Nguyen/AFP • Jan 20, 2021

Earth • Jan 19, 2021 • 12 min read
Land rights

As Thai forest aims for UNESCO status, Karen community pushed to the margins

Environmental conservation and indigenous rights are often natural bedfellows – but what happens when the two are at odds? In Thailand's Kaeng Krachan Forest, Karen communities battle to secure ancestral land rights, as officials strive for world heritage status
By Wanpen Pajai • Jan 19, 2021

Earth • Jan 15, 2021 • 8 min read
Analysis

The hidden cost: Are Cambodia’s carbon credits really clean and green?

As global corporations, looking to offset their own emissions, pour money into eco-friendly projects in Cambodia as part of the carbon credits scheme, lurking beneath this seemingly positive initiative is corruption, rights abuses and violence says Dr Sarah Milne
By Dr Sarah Milne • Jan 15, 2021

Earth • Jan 13, 2021 • 15 min read
Wildlife trafficking

Infiltrating a Vietnam tiger trafficking network: Confronting an online kingpin

The trading of tigers and tiger products such as bone glue, claws, skin, bones and fangs in any form is prohibited under Vietnamese law. But in black markets, trade activities are thriving, as reporters found out when infiltrating Vietnam's trafficking rings
By Lam Anh and Hoang Chien • Jan 13, 2021

Earth • Jan 05, 2021 • 9 min read
Urbanisation

What’s to become of Hanoi’s last green holdout ‘Banana Island’?

Famed for its nudist colony and banana plantations, Banana Island is little more than a punchline for many Hanoians. But for the small community living there, a cycle of proposed housing developments, and even foresting projects, has left their livelihoods in doubt
By Ashley Lampard • Jan 05, 2021

Earth • Dec 31, 2020 • 2 min read
Human rights

US bans palm oil imports from second Malaysian firm

For the second time in recent months, the United States has banned imports from a Malaysian palm oil giant over concerns that its workers face a litany of abuse, including sexual and physical violence, withholding of wages and restrictions on movement
By Agence France-Presse • Dec 31, 2020