Mekong - U.S. Partnership
Forest Rangers Complete WildScan Species Identification Training
On October 16, 15 forest rangers from Thailand and Cambodia received in-depth training on WildScan, a new species identification and response application to combat wildlife trafficking now available for free on Android devices. The training was part of the Protected-area Operational and Tactical Enforcement Conservation Training (PROTECT) Team Leaders Course.Participants will pass on to their…
USAID Supports Improved National Forest Monitoring Systems in Asia
Over 90 participants from 18 countries in Asia attended the Fifth Regional Forest Monitoring Systems and Reference Levels for REDD+ workshop, held from October 20 to 22 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Hosted by UN-REDD, USAID’s Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests project (USAID LEAF), SilvaCarbon and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, the workshop brought together participants to…
Center for International Forestry Research Publishes Paper on Payments for Environmental Services in Cambodia
With USAID support, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) recently published, “A review of payments for environmental services experiences in Cambodia.” The paper examines the legal and policy status of payments for environmental services (PES), including how they have been promoted by nongovernmental organizations and international donors and applied by the government in Cambodia.In…
Cambodia Holds Public Consultations for Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Law
From October 13 to 14, Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment and the Vishnu Law Group, with support from the USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment project implemented by Pact, held a public consultation workshop in Battambang province on Cambodia’s new Draft Law on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).More than 124 representatives from government ministries, civil society groups…
USAID Signs Agreement with Vietnam Province to Support New Sustainable Economic Growth Model
On October 7, 2014, in Thanh Hoa City, Vietnam, representatives from the USAID Vietnam Forests and Deltas program and the regional USAID Low Emissions Asian Development program signed a memorandum of understanding with the newly established Green Growth Task Force of Thanh Hoa Province that details USAID support for designing and implementing a green growth…
USAID and NASA Using Technology for Development in Lower Mekong
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today announced a five-year project that will promote the use of satellite imagery to help Asia’s Lower Mekong region better predict and cope with floods and other natural disasters and increase resilience to the negative effects of climate…
Lower Mekong Initiative Road Management II Workshop
The Roads Management Workshops aim to provide participants from the ASEAN countries, particularly those in the Lower Mekong with an enhanced understanding of good design and practices in road and traffic management for safe transport and better connectivity between the countries. Improving traffic safety through technical exchanges and harmonization of transportation design standards is planned…
World Rhino Day Video Raises Public Awareness of Rhino Poaching Crisis
In preparation for World Rhino Day, members of the USAID-funded Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking (ARREST) coalition created a short film calling on the public to stop purchasing rhino horn and to support wildlife protection efforts. Rhino poaching has reached a crisis point. They are now extinct in Vietnam and are being poached…
USAID Mekong ARCC Assesses Livelihoods and Adaptation Needs in Mekong Delta Commune
The USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change partner, the Asian Management and Development Institute, has conducted a detailed livelihoods assessment in Thuan Hoa commune in Kien Giang province, Vietnam. The assessment evaluates how existing and potential livelihoods are impacted by climate change and helps identify opportunities to improve local incomes. The work also…
Article: Improving Road Safety in Cambodia
When I sit in Phnom Penh’s traffic, I watch with astonishment as motorbikes (motos), tuk-tuks, bicycles, and pedestrians compete for space on the road with cars and trucks. Cambodians are very resourceful at navigating through traffic, but that has not stopped the country’s number of fatal road accidents from rapidly rising over the past decade.…
USAID/RDMA Signs Agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency to Strengthen Environmental Impact Assessments in Lower Mekong
USAID/RDMA recently finalized a four-year inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as part of a Lower Mekong Initiative deliverable announced by Hillary Clinton and the USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment. Under the agreement, USAID, USEPA and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) partner to promote regional integration by strengthening environmental and social…
USAID M-BRACE Showcases Intervention Projects in Phuket
Provincial officials, city leaders, community members and representatives from a range of stakeholder groups met in Patong, Thailand, last week to learn about intervention projects being conducted in Phuket and to discuss how the outcomes and lessons learned in these projects can help the province better address key challenges related to development, urbanization and climate…
