Many large cities in Vietnam are struggling with a slew of acute environmental problems such as air pollution, according to a report on Vietnam’s urban environment by the Vietnam Environment Administration.

 At least 15 million of the country’s 52-million workforce is suffering the consequences of severe noise levels, the Institute of Occupational Health and Environment, said on July 20.

 Many people in Ha Giang Province have complained about the abject lack of waste treatment facilities after tonnes of rubbish was dumped into a local stream.

 Scientists are compiling a crop structure map for the Mekong Delta to counter growing climate change impact in the region known as the country’s food granary.

 Several Vietnamese cities are striving to recycle and reuse waste, with waste a growing concern in the country and around the world.

 A herd of seven elephants have re-appeared in a commune in the central province of Quang Nam after they were first spotted in February this year.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently approved a plan to implement phase II of the Vietnamese youth development strategy, from 2016 to 2020.

 The Vietnam Administration of Forestry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AnimalsAsia on building plans to better protect bears.

Vietnam’s urban environment, especially in big cities, is facing numerous challenges, including air and water pollution, solid waste treatment and flooding.

The Southern Institute of Ecology has discovered three new plant species unknown to the world in the Son Tra Nature Reserve during a three-year research and revaluation of its biodiversity.

 Several companies have expressed keen interest in developing waste-to-power projects in HCMC given the high potential in the sector.

 Noise pollution in urban areas, mostly caused by traffic, factories and construction sites, has become more severe in recent years, affecting the quality of life.

Vietnam has launched its first energy efficiency network in HCM City.

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade said a shortage of oxygen was responsible for the recent mass fish deaths in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.

The Ministry of Environment has asked the People’s Committees of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue to maintain strict supervision on waste discharges from the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh.

 Ho Chi Minh City authorities have agreed to build a large-scale project on producing electricity from waste, aiming to cut the volume of buried waste by 50 percent by 2020. 

The Empire Group and ViDe Bridge Limited Company of Vietnam will implement a project producing electricity from urban solid waste using advanced technology in the central city of Da Nang.

 During a tour to Ba Bo Canal yesterday Chairman of People’s Committee in HCM City Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the relevant agencies must make more efforts to reduce pollution in Ba Bo Canal.

 The one-horn Java rhino whose scientific name was Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus, was shot dead at the national park in 2010.

 Some 40 black shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nigripes), divided into three herds, have been found living on Chua Chan Mountain in southern Dong Nai Province’s Xuan Loc District.