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…
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…
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…
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…
From April 21 to May 3, experts from the USAID Low Emissions Asian Development program and U.S. Forest Service trained 38 Cambodian participants from eight government agencies and three universities on how to measure the amount of carbon stored in mangroves and other forested wetlands.The 11-day, intensive field training in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia, is…
The USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific project facilitated a visit of a high-level delegation of Thai officials to the United States at the invitation of the U.S. Forest Service from April 19 to May 1. The five-member Thai delegation, including the Secretary General of the National Research Council of Thailand and the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the…
On April 25, hundreds of students at International School Bangkok celebrated Earth Week with a one-day outreach event on wildlife trafficking. Freeland, the implementing partner of the USAID-funded Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking Program, sponsored the awareness-building event.Event activities highlighted the plight of endangered species trafficked in the region, the event activities emphasized…
Last week, five civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Lower Mekong region won award of US$10,000 each from the USAID-funded Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong Program to promote social equity and inclusion in forests and climate change policies and practices.As part of the program’s small grant Challenge Fund, CSOs can compete for…
Law enforcement officers from Lao PDR and Thailand are now better equipped to stop wildlife trafficking after undergoing joint training at a major endangered species smuggling corridor.Twenty-six law enforcement investigators including customs, police, wildlife officers and prosecutors attended the training, which provided the participants from Lao PDR’s Department of Forestry Inspection with their first advanced investigations…
The Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic hosted over 90 delegates from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, the United States and the ASEAN Secretariat on March 20-21, 2014 for the 6th Lower Mekong Initiative Regional Working Group Meeting. The Lower Mekong Initiative is a multinational forum for addressing trans-boundary policy and development challenges in…
What happens when outstanding government officials, researchers, and lecturers from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand from the Agriculture and Food Security, Environment and Water Security, and Connectivity LMI pillars come together for a three-day forum in Bangkok? A successful showcasing of presentation and leadership skills, energized networking, and the development of potential collaborative projects. Three participants…
Five lower Mekong countries and the United States are taking steps to boost cooperation in key areas to drive development in the region with the U.S. pledging further support to help address challenges faced by the region.Around 100 delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the US met yesterday in Vientiane to discuss cooperation…