Environmental news from the Asian region
06 May 2008
$63 million to protect the Coral Triangle
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are joining together to support the preservation of Asia’s Coral Triangle – the world’s centre of marine life – with the GEF committing $63 million to fund conservation of this area. » Read more
17 Apr 2008
Hot, dirty and rewarding – moving rhinos in Assam
"The tranquilizing team changed tactics. They now started stalking the rhino on foot, using the elephants as cover. In the next half hour that ensued, the first rhino, a male, was tranquilized. After fifteen minutes of tracking, the rhino grew sluggish and his hind legs started sinking. A vet then approached this animal and gave him a second shot of tranquilizer. But as soon as the dart hit him, the animal was up on his feet and running again!" » Read more
16 Apr 2008
Indian rhinos on the move to a better future
After centuries of having their range contracted to the point of extinction, India’s rhinos are on the move outwards again. In a difficult operation, two male rhinos were taken back to a national park in Assam’s Himalayan foothills last weekend.
The return was an emotional moment for local residents, who lost their last rhinos a decade ago during a 20 year period of civil disturbance that wrecked infrastructure in the famed Manas National Park and allowed poachers free reign. » Read more
29 Mar 2008
Vietnam province redefines hydropower development
On the eve of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit in Vientiane, Mr Nguyen Duc Hai, the Chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee, has taken a bold and visionary stance for sustainable dam development in this Vietnam province. WWF, the global conservation organization, says this sends a timely and powerful signal to regional leaders as they seek to manage the pressing challenges of rapid infrastructure development and economic growth in a sustainable way. » Read more
25 Mar 2008
APP irregularities threaten massive climate and tiger impact
Pekanbaru, INDONESIA – One of the world’s biggest carbon stores and a key tiger habitat are threatened by a new logging road in Riau Province, Sumatra, according to an investigative report published today.
An absence of permits and other irregularities suggest that the new road cutting into Kampar peninsula is likely to be illegal, says Riau’s Eyes on the Forest group, a coalition of local NGO network Jikalahari, Walhi Riau, and WWF-Indonesia. » Read more
05 Mar 2008
This time, world should heed OECD call to action on environment
Paris: The OECD’s Environment Outlook to 2030, issued today, was welcomed by WWF as yet another compelling argument that the costs of inaction on the environment will far exceed the costs of action.
The OECD Outlook is the latest - and at 520 pages one of the weightiest - in a run of reports from prominent economic institutions and commissions calling on governments and international institutions to face up to the seriousness and immediacy of global environmental problems. » Read more
05 Mar 2008
Lethal whale "research" programmes produce meat, not answers: WWF
Japan would do better whale research by not killing whales, said WWF on the eve of a key International Whaling Commission planning meeting.
Today, much more plentiful and reliable information is available using the many better new ways of collecting whale data rather than much the same old ways of killing them.
04 Mar 2008
Chasing rhinos in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park
How hard can it be to catch a glimpse of a beast which can weigh 2,300kg and measure over 3m in length? As a WWF team discovered, it takes patience, skill and not a little ingenuity to capture the movements of this elusive giant on film. » Read more
04 Mar 2008
A new platform to start changing the world
Forget Facebook, MySpace or You Tube: here comes connect2earth, a new online community where young people can upload videos, pictures and comments about the environment.
On www.connect2earth.org, users and visitors will be able to write, speak, illustrate and video present their concerns on subjects important to them, and share environmental ideas and solutions.
» Read more
26 Feb 2008
Pulp and palm oil the villains in Sumatra's global climate impact and local elephant losses
Pekanbaru, Sumatra: Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found. » Read more
