Forest protection act

Illustration by Trịnh Lập by Nguyễn Mỹ Hà Local residents and environmentalists have been spreading the news that UNESCO Việt Nam has opposed an official letter from the Đồng Nai People's Committee consulting on a contractor's proposal to build a 40km highway with a bridge across the core zone of the Đồng Nai Biosphere Reserve. VnExpress news website reported that UNESCO Việt Nam, in response to the letter, strongly suggested not building a road across the world biosphere for fear the damage would impact flora and fauna in reserve. It added that the full biodiverse ecological corridor would be affected. Vehicles moving on the road could accidentally kill animals crossing it, and the construction process would pollute the soil, air and groundwater. If this happens, the criteria for a world biosphere would not be met, and Đồng Nai Reserve could be crossed off the list of world biospheres. It also cited that building a bridge and a national highway failed to meet Việt Nam's … [Read more...] about Đồng Nai Biosphere Reserve must not be spoilt

A stamp exhibition, under the theme “For the Green” took place at Ho Chi Minh Museum, Number 2 Le Duan Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on November 20 th in response to environmental protection in Vietnam, the UN International Forest Year, the wild life and ecosystem protection campaign and sustainable use of biodiversity. On display are 38 sets of stamps of 30 collectors, reflecting nature, environment, flora and fauna species as well as the culture, people and history of Vietnam and countries in the world. The event aims to mobilise people to take active part in protecting flora and fauna species, ecosystems and the biodiversity. Dinh Duc Tuan, the winner of the fifth Viet Stamp Exhibition confided that he decided to introduce set of stamps about environment, especially about polar ice melting, to raise  people’s awareness and responsibility on protection of the environment. Source: SGGP Translated by Tran Hoai … [Read more...] about “For the Green” Viet Stamp Exhibition kicks off in Ho Chi Minh City

Reporter: The adoption of VNLOS could be considered the localization of the UNCLOS in Vietnam. Could you please  elaborate more about the policy and principles of Vietnam when applying the above two legal documents to the demarcation of waters and dealing with arising issues at sea in reality, sir? Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh: First, There are two basic legal documents that we rely on when exploiting resources, protecting and operating in Vietnamese waters. They are UNCLOS internationally and VNLOS domestically. At present, there are a lot of conventions, international laws or legal documents. They are not issued by any courts, but built based on the commitments of coastal and island states. Due to the characteristics of UNCLOS, each country needs to devise its own law of the sea, but basically all of those laws must comply with and be based on UNCLOS. Generally, international conventions or laws at large, not only on the sea, are loose to some extents, but first … [Read more...] about Part 3: Upholding VNLOS is upholding international law