A field in Soc Trang Province’s Long Phu District suffers from severe drought. A shortage of fresh water and saline intrusion has affected agricultural crops in the Mekong Delta region. – VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

HCM CITY (VNS) — A shortage of fresh water and severe saline intrusion has seriously affected agricultural cultivation in the Mekong Delta since mid-February.

Farmer Phan Van Thi, of Go Cong town in Tien Giang province told Tin Tuc (News) newspaper that he must get up early every day to pump water for his one-hectare rice field. He said fresh water in canals had been low. Continue reading Mekong Delta faces crippling drought, more saline intrusion →

The National Assembly Standing Committee yesterday approved an increase in environmental taxes on oil and gas products. — Photo doanhnhan

HA NOI (VNS) — The National Assembly Standing Committee yesterday approved an increase in environmental taxes on oil and gas products that would take it to three times the current levels.

The amended Resolution No 1269 on environmental taxation will, however, impose no extra duty on kerosene, as this is an essential commodity for the majority of poor people, and those living in underprivileged and mountainous areas. Continue reading NA approves higher eco-tax on oil and gas →

Nguyen Chi Nghia from Phuong Ngan Village washes his hands with water taken from a local well, which he says smells of pesticides. — VNS Photo Phuoc Buu

by Phuoc Buu

QUANG TRI (VNS) — A sudden downpour on a sunny spring day sends Nguyen Mot scurrying into his house.

But he is not trying to escape the rain. He darts about, shutting all the doors and windows in a vain bid to keep out the noxious odour that comes up with vapour sent up by the sudden rain.

“Pesticides,” he says, ruefully. Continue reading Villagers sitting on a ticking pollution time bomb →

Elephants carry tourists on sightseeing trips in Ban Don Area Tourism. — Photo Yokdonnationalpark.vn

DAK LAK (VNS) — A 40-year-old male elephant, which carried tourists on sightseeing trips for years in the Central Highland Dak Lak Province’s Ban Don tourism area, died of overwork yesterday.

Authorised local agencies disposed of the body of the captive elephant as per regulations. Continue reading Male elephant dies of overwork in Dak Lak →

Recent sea water levels have eroded and destroyed parts of the preventive forest in the Go Cong coastal region, Tien Giang Province. — Photo vov.vn

TIEN GIANG – VNS — The mangrove forest in Tien Giang’s province Go Cong coastal region could disappear forever if effective solutions are not identified and implemented immediately, worried officials say. Continue reading Tien Giang could lose forest buffer to climate change →

Cassava residue on Poko River in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum. — VNA/ VNS Photo Cao Nguyen

KON TUM (VNS) — Farmers in Dak To District’s Tan Canh Commune claim they are forced to use polluted water pumped from the Poko River to water their coffee bushes.

They said the water had a foul smell and contained starch residue, probably from two new cassava processing plants upstream. Continue reading Farmers using river water polluted by cassava factories →