Mekong - U.S. Partnership
Training Manual Launched to Improve Social Equity in Forests and Climate Change Context
The USAID-funded Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong (GREEN Mekong) program recently completed a seminal training publication entitled “Improving grassroots equity in the forests and climate change context”.The manual aims to develop the knowledge and capacities of grassroots facilitators to conduct meaningful participatory processes that can improve social equity and inclusion in forest-based…
Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Fin Free Thailand Promote Shark Conservation
On July 16, U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Kristie A. Kenney joined USAID-supported Fin Free Thailand at the Rayong Aquarium Eastern Marine Fisheries Research and Development Center to promote shark and ocean conservation. The event is part of Fin Free Thailand's efforts to reduce consumer demand for shark fin in order to protect endangered sharks and…
Regional Model for Low Emission Provincial Planning Nears Completion
25 key experts met on July 14 in Da Lat, Vietnam to integrate technical and policy components of the Lam Dong Provincial REDD+ Action Plan (PRAP), which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the province’s forest estate by 27% by 2020.The plan has been developed through two years of close collaboration among stakeholders…
Laos Farmers Return Home with Hands-on Field Experience in Forest Restoration
A three-day regional training on forest restoration, held July 8 – 10 by the USAID-funded Lowering Emission’s in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF) Program in collaboration with the Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU) at Chiang Mai University, Thailand, concluded with hands-on experience for 13 Laos farmers and forest officers from Houaphanh and Attapeu Provinces.The farmers and…
Google Joins Mekong Partnership for the Environment to Harness Big Data
If you Google “big data” you may soon find Mekong Partnership for the Environment among the search results. On June 19, 2014, the tech giant agreed to partner with the USAID-funded project to support the next Mekong ICT ‘Bootcamp’.The Bootcamp will bring together up to 80 tech and data experts, journalists and civil society organizations…
Climate Resilience Action Plan for Hue City Approved
At a ceremony on June 27, 2014, the People’s Provincial Committee of Thua Thien Hue Province gave final approval for the Climate Resilience Action Plan for Hue City. The Action Plan was developed under USAID's Mekong – Building Climate Resilience in Asian Cities (M-BRACE) program, which is implemented by the Institute for Social and Environmental…
Vietnam Educators and Partners Engage on Climate Change Curriculum
The USAID Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF) program advanced development of its Climate Change Curriculum in Vietnam with open seminars at universities in Hanoi on June 19 and 20 and Da Lat on June 25 and 26.The seminars reached over 120 educators at Hanoi’s Vietnam Forestry University and Da Lat University with information…
NEWS: Results of the Lower Mekong Initiative and the Friends of Lower Mekong Senior Officials’ Meeting
As head of the Thai delegation, the Director-General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs, Mr. Arthayuth Srisamoot, has attended the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) Senior Officials’ Meetings.These two events took place in Yangon, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, on 8 June 2014.Founded in 2009, the…
The LMI English Support Project Phase Two Symposium on English for Specific Purposes: Collaboration and Innovation
Over one hundred ministry of education officials, university English department heads, researchers, and lecturers from the five Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam), Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, participated in a two-day symposium, an activity under the Education Pillar in Bangkok, Thailand.The culminating event of the 2013-2014 LMI English Support…
NEWS: Cooperation in the Lower Mekong Stepped up
Senior officials of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam met with those from the United States to discuss sustainable economic growth in the Mekong sub-region in Yangon, Myanmar on June 8.The Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) SOM meeting, which involved the five Mekong countries and the U.S., touched upon cooperation for the next five years and…
Fin Free Campaign Joins Thai Dive Expo to Promote Shark Conservation
From May 15-18, 2014, Fin Free Thailand joined the Thai Travel and Dive Expo to promote the campaign and broader shark conservation awareness. Dive tourism is a large industry in Thailand and with more than 100 million sharks a year being slaughtered for their fins worldwide; the global dive tourism industry stands to lose millions…
Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking Program Surveys Document Decline in Wildlife Crime in Vietnam
Over the last few months, USAID partner Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) has mounted a campaign of surveys in four districts of Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi to document the illegal use and sale of endangered and protected species. The project team inspected 2,326 restaurants, hotels, bars, traditional medicine shops, pet stores and markets…
