As wildlife-related crimes are able to generate profits almost equal to those from the trafficking of drugs, firearms, and human beings, they are quickly becoming increasingly more of a threat to Vietnam.

 A woman in the central province of Nghe An has been detained while transporting wild animals for sale. 

 The import of wheat contaminated with the cirsium arvense into Vietnam has continued despite warnings, posing a high risk of the spread of this harmful weed.

 A Malayan bear which had been kept in a tourism site in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong was handed over to FOUR PAWS Viet on November 16. 

 Saltwater intrusion and water scarcity are issues attracting much public concern in recent days. The paradox is that water shortages and saltwater intrusion still occur during the rainy season.

 Bai Tu Long National Park in the northern province of Quang Ninh has proven to hold significant biodiversity values, with great efforts having been made to conserve them.

 FOUR PAWS Viet on November 15 received an Asiatic black bear named Trang, the last bear kept in private farm in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, putting an end to bear bile farming in the province.

 The Ministry of Transport (MoT) plans to tighten control of emissions of vehicles in circulation as well as used vehicles imported to curb air pollution.

 An enterprise and a driver received an administrative fine of over VND383 million for discharging dangerous waste into environment in the central city of Da Nang.

 Nguyen Xuan Man, head of the forest ranger unit in Ha Loc District, Ha Tinh Province, said on November 10 that they were collaborating with related agencies to deal with illegal poaching in the area.

 25 scrap containers have been found at Cat Lai Port in HCM City recently despite the government’s tightened controls over scrap imports.

 The mass fish deaths in Danang coast might have been caused by fishing using explosives according to local authorities.

 Humankind had “mortgaged” its future with uncontrolled growth at the expense of the environment for far too long, experts agreed, and urged for the simultaneous pursuit of development and sustainability.

 The loss and degradation of wetland areas are occurring more rapidly than in any other ecosystem due to large-scale land use changes, infrastructure development, altered water flow, and the impact of climate change.

 The Hanoi Forum 2018 opened on November 9, drawing nearly 500 delegates, made up of former and incumbent state leaders, heads of business groups and international organisations, as well as domestic and foreign scholars and scientists.

 Hundreds of wild birds have been sold at a temporary market by Thang Long Avenue in Hanoi.  

Solid waste can be classified by source or characteristics, and the work has been piloted in HCM City over the past decade. However, shortcomings in waste management and collection have hindered the city’s environmental protection efforts. 

 Scientists have found that northern Vietnam is one of the areas most populated by prehistoric plants in East Asia, containing species which have have been around from some dozens to hundreds of million years ago. 

 Vietnam could cut down 6 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of the ‘Green Office’ Initiative, the Asian Institute of Technology in Vietnam (AIT-VN) said at a workshop in Hanoi on November 7. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has once again emphasised the importance of protecting the marine environment while chairing a meeting on coastal erosion and sediment deposition at river mouths in central coastal provinces from Nghe An to Binh Thuan.