Hin Nam No Soon to be Nominated Laos’ First Natural UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Hin Nam No National Protected Area is on its way to become Laos’ first natural UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Earlier this January in Hanoi, the Lao and Vietnamese governments signed a MOU, ensuring Vietnam’s full support of the nomination of Hin Nam No National Protected Area as a transboundary World Heritage Site together with the already established natural UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Phong Nga Ke Bang (PNKB) National Park in Quang Binh, Vietnam. The latter shares a common border with Hin Nam No National Protected Area in Khammouane, Laos.

High ranking officials including Vice Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Buagneun Saphouvong, Vice Minister of Energy and Mines Thongphat Inthavong, and Khammouane Province Deputy Governor Khamsy Outhivong met with representatives from the respective government agencies to review and endorse the way forward.

“With Hin Nam No’s huge potential for eco-tourism, it [World Heritage status for UNESCO] will make an important contribution to national socio-economic development, especially for Khammouane people,” said Saphouvong.

“Becoming a World Heritage Site will also enhance the protection of the area, improve conservation and will facilitate better management of the natural resources in and around Hin Nam No, promote ecotourism and scientific research,” he added.

Hin Nam No NPA has been recognized as a site of global significance for the conservation of biodiversity because its variety of habitat and forest types provided by the landscape geomorphology support a high diversity of animals and plants, including a number of globally threatened species, endemic species and karst specialist species. Thus, the elevated UNESCO status will contribute substantially to the conservation of this unique ecosystem.

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 Deputy Governor Outhivong expressed that “Hin Nam No will attract both local and international tourists and thereby will generate incomes for local communities once it is nominated as a World Heritage Site. More importantly, it will also create opportunities to boost the livelihoods of the local communities who live around the area. By this means, they are also able to ensure their food security and alternative income generation.”

  Under the newly signed MoU between Laos and Vietnam, a number of points have been agreed for which both countries commit to support the nomination of Hin Nam No National Protected area as a transboundary World Heritage Site, connected to Phong Nga Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam.

The two countries will also work together to appoint their own committees at different levels to help and push for the nomination of Hin Nam No National Protected Area.
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 Hin Nam No Protected Area

Source - Read more Laotian Times

 

Crossing Siberia, from Moscow to Mongolia

In 1891, Nicholas II made a grand voyage across what was then the Russian Empire on what was called The Tsar’s Train. The potentate ventured from the imperial capital of Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, on the frozen rim of Siberia, more than 9,000 kilometers away.

The same route, now known as the Trans-Siberia Railroad, exists today, with branch lines that allow journeys to destinations as far as China and Mongolia.

All aboard

Unlike Tsar Nicholas II, I would begin by voyage in Moscow, where I landed at Domodedovo Airport in October. First pro tip: Dress warmly: the temperature was about -3 degrees! Used to tropical weather, I was chilled, wearing only a thin jacket, winter hat and hand-knit gloves.

Two months before leaving for Russia, I had purchased my tickets, spending US$285 for an 87-hour passage from Moscow to Irkutsk on the Trans-Siberia Railway and $200 for the 22-hour journey from Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital. Purchase can also be made in Moscow, or via websites such as russianrail.com or expresstorussia.com, which will deliver tickets to your hotel.

Before departing, I stopped at a supermarket. Three days on a train traveling second class meant I had to lay in a supply of food and sundries, such as instant noodles, flip flops for the shower and five cans of beer. (Second pro tip: Russian Rail officers say that you can’t bring more than five cans on the train.

 

 

 I was at Moscow Yaroslavskaya Station, which forms a rail terminus shared with Kazansky and Leningradsky Stations, about three hours before departure, as suggested. Each car of my train had from six to nine (quite clean) passenger compartments, a toilet/shower room and an officer space. 

 In my second-class compartment, towels, blankets, mattresses and pillows were neatly stacked. There was ample space for four to sleep, two on upper berths, which folded away during the daytime, and two on lower berths. We left Moscow just before midnight, starting my Siberian adventure.

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Vietnam - Tourists revel in rich Khmer culture

If you visit in mid-November to mid-December, the Ok Om Bok Festival, also called the Festival of Worshipping the Moon, takes place at the Ba Om Pond relic site.

Kim Ngọc Thái, deputy chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, said that the Ok Om Bok is one of the main traditional Khmer festivals in the south besides the Sene Dolta and Chol Chnam Thmay festivals.

The joyful and festive Ok Om Bok event has been recognised as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Vietnamese government.

The one-week festival includes cultural and sports events, trade fairs offering local specialties, traditional competitions such as tug-of-war and crossing of bamboo bridges, and a souvenir design contest.

But the standout activity is the exciting and colourful Ghe Ngo (Khmer boat) race on Bà Ôm Pond (which is actually as big as a lake)

Six rowing teams with nearly 400 athletes from different districts and cities in the province compete in a race that is seen as both a way to express solidarity and a traditional ritual to see off the God of Water to the ocean after the growing season.

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The Khmer believe that the Buddha blesses and protects them, so followers donate time, money and effort to build pagodas in their hamlets.

More than one million Khmer live in southern Việt Nam, which has a total of 600 Khmer pagodas. Some of them have existed for several centuries and have been recognised as national architectural relics, including the pagodas of Ang, Mẹt, Hang and Dơi.

The pagodas are always built on large areas surrounded by Dầu (Dipterocarpus alatus) trees, Palmyra palms or green cajuput forests.

A panoramic view of a typical Khmer pagoda includes a monastery, gate, fence, wall, main chamber, towers containing the ashes of dead monks, and the Sala, the place where monks and the Khmer gather to prepare for important ceremonies.
The main chamber of the Ang Pagoda, the most important part of the structure, is located in the centre and faces east. It is designed with a multi-layered roof decorated with four curved dragon’s tails on four of the roof’s corners.

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 Decorative reliefs on the pagoda’s walls include a fairy, statues of divine Krud birds, the ogress Yeak wearing armor, and the head of the Bayon with four faces, all expressing the spirit of the Khmer people. 

  The corridor outside the main chamber is decorated with Naga curving around the terrace that represent cruel forces subdued by the Buddha.

The Khmer, who account for 30 per cent of the province’s population, have enriched the local cuisine with traditional ingredients and distinctive flavours.

Bún Nước Lèo (noodle soup) is one of the most well-known. It consists of snakehead fish, roast pork and shrimp, with the essential “mắm bò hóc” (bò hóc sauce) to enrich the boldness and brackishness of the soup.
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Central: The pagoda’s main chamber, the most important part of the structure, is located in the centre of Khmer pagodas.

Source - Read Continue 
 

#Laos Golden Triangle Casino Hit with US Sanctions

The US Treasury officially placed the Kings Romans Casino based in Laos on its organised crime sanctions blacklist on Tuesday, naming it a hub for the trafficking of humans, drugs, and wildlife.

The sanctions involve a group based in Hong Kong, the Kings Romans Company, which operates casinos.

One of the sites operated by the company is a well known casino located in Laos, in its Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, on the Mekong River near Thailand and Myanmar.

“The Zhao Wei crime network engages in an array of horrendous illicit activities, including human trafficking and prostitution, drug trafficking, and wildlife trafficking,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Tourists who have visited the casino report a menu full of protected species at the casino’s restaurant, including bear, tiger, and pangolin.

The US Treasury named four individuals as key players:

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 Abbas “Basu” Eberahim, 29, an Australian who owns residences in Kooringal in Australia, Chiang Rai, Thailand, and the Golden Triangle Economic Zone in Laos.

Nat Rungtawankhiri, a Thai national aged 41 and resident Chiang Rai.

Guiqin Su aka Zhao Su, or Madame Su, 69, a Hong Kong resident with Chinese nationality.

Zhao Wei, 66, a dual Chinese-Macau national and husband of Madame Su.

“All assets of those designated that are under US jurisdiction are frozen, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” it said.

“Since 2014, Thai, Lao, and Chinese authorities have seized large narcotics shipments that have been traced to the Kings Romans Casino.”

Source - Laotian Times

#Vietnam - Sediment loss in Mekong River killing southern delta

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta is home to nearly 18 million Vietnamese people, and is the most important rice field and fishing region of the country.

 

HÀNỘI — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta is home to nearly 18 million Vietnamese people, and is the most important rice field and fishing region of the country.

Việt Nam cannot afford to lose it as an agricultural powerhouse, but may be unable to stop just that happening.

A recent study conducted by the Agence Francaise de Developpement (French Development Agency – AFD) and the European Union (EU) found that the Mekong River’s sediments arriving down the Cửu Long Delta fell from 65 to 75 per cent compared to the total in the 1990s, and by half over the last few years.

This sediment shortage was mostly caused by human activities in the river’s upstream, with hydropower plants sprouting up despite the protests of downstream countries like Cambodia and Việt Nam. Việt Nam’s own rampant sand mining in the delta’s rivers only exacerbated the situation.  

The study gave a bleak forecast: the Mekong Delta is very likely to receive between 10 and 20 per cent of the nutrient-rich sediment compared to what it used to get in the last century once all the hydropower plant projects on the Mekong River are finished.

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$700m losses  

      

The study also estimated losses of about VNĐ15.8 trillion (US702 million) a year to Việt Nam’s economy due to a severe decline in agriculture and fisheries. The revenue of companies in the region could be cut by up to 50 per cent, the study suggested.

Hydropower dams in the upstream of the Mekong River not only trapped sediment but also blocked fish from freely migrating downstream to the Mekong Delta.

It was found that existing dams have already cost about 50 per cent of fish stocks in Việt Nam and Cambodia, while as many as 10 per cent of fish species would disappear from the rivers in the two countries.

‘Happening too fast’

The huge loss of sediments was wrecking havoc on river banks and coastal lines in the south of Việt Nam, with erosion and subsidence occurring at faster rates than ever before.

“Subsidence in the Cửu Long Delta was widespread and particularly worse in the lowland,” said Dr Văn Phạm Đăng Trí from Cần Thơ University, located in the city of the same name in the Mekong Delta.

Agriculture and Rural Development deputy minister Hoàng Văn Thắng said that the sediment loss stopped the build-up and expanding process of the delta.

“Due to that, we now witness the opposite process – sea encroachment in which more and more land has been lost. It is happening too fast,” he said.

He believed the unsustainable development in the Mekong upstream played a big role in the mass subsidence taking place in the Cửu Long delta.

“But the unsustainable development in the delta itself, for example the rampant sand mining or the overexploitation of underwater, was also very alarming,” Thắng added.

 

VIET NAM NEWS

#Vietnam - Lotus farm-tourism model faces market hurdles in Mekong

MEKONG DELTA — Nguyễn Văn Hơn has been a farmer all of his life. Now, in his mid 50s, he is working as a tour guide.  

He is one of the first lotus farmers in the Mekong Delta to adopt the lotus–ecotourism model as an alternative to growing an unsustainable third rice crop every year (called the autumn-winter crop).

The owner of 4ha of lotus in Mỹ Hòa Commune in Đồng Tháp Province’s Tháp Mười District, Hơn began offering tourism services in 2013 when locals set up the Đồng Sen (lotus farm) ecotourism zone.

His business began to take off about two to three years ago, and during peak season from June to August, he welcomes around 50-100 tourists a day.

Visitors at his farm can pick lotus flowers and enjoy lotus specialties like salted roasted lotus seeds, rice cooked with lotus, sweet lotus dessert, and fresh lotus seeds.

“When I was growing only rice and lotus, my income was quite good, but when I started the tourism business, it definitely improved,” he said. “Last year, visitors from HCM City, Đồng Nai Province and even the central and northern regions came here.”

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Over a period of four years, his business expanded by four-fold.

The Đồng Sen ecotourism zone has now expanded to 11ha, with tourism services the main source of income for local farmers taking part in the model, according to local authorities.

In the first half of 2017, the zone welcomed more than 36,000 local and international visitors and grossed more than VNĐ2.1 billion (US$92,000).

Though the province has encouraged more farmers to join the ecotourism model, not everyone has the skills needed to offer good services or the finances to invest in infrastructure.

Trần Văn Kịch, who has a 4.5ha area of lotus flowers only a 20-minute riverboat ride away from Hơn’s farm, has decided to breed fish on his lotus farm to increase income.

But unlike the lotus–ecotourism model in which the lotus output is bought by tourists, farmers like Kịch who rely on selling lotus seeds are worried about the price fluctuations of lotus.

“I’m not sure if I can sell lotus flowers at good prices this year,” he said. 

As he only sells fresh lotus seeds, he has to rely on prices offered by traders who visit his farm to buy lotus seeds and flowers directly from him.

Sometimes traders are willing to pay VNĐ12,000 per kilogramme, but later change their minds to VNĐ10,000 or even VNĐ8,000 after the lotus is picked, saying the plants are not “beautiful”, according to Kịch. 

Farmers have to sell the lotus plants soon after they picked, he said, because they could lose freshness if they are stored overnight.

“Unstable prices discourage farmers,” he said. “Besides, it’s not easy to find lotus pickers since many of them have moved to other places to work in factories or at construction sites.”

When asked why he still grows lotus even though many neighbours have stopped, he said: “My first thought was that I am doing this for the environment.”

Lotus leaves can also be a good source of organic fertiliser, he said. 

“After harvesting lotus and preparing for the next rice crop, I only need to use half of the fertiliser volume compared to other rice fields,” he added. 

The income from selling fish also helps him cover the expenses of growing lotus.

READ MORE - VIET NAM NEWS

#Philippines - Phivolcs warns of catastrophic mudflow from Mayon

LEGAZPI CITY — The threat of catastrophic mudflow is building on the slopes of Mount Mayon where nearly 90,000 residents have been moved out of harm’s way, authorities said on Tuesday.

Mayon has spewed millions of tons of ash, rocks, lava and debris in less than three weeks, much of it loosely lodged on its burnt slopes and which experts warn could be dislodged by heavy rain.

Activity continued overnight with “energetic lava effusion,” while previously extruded lava was also collapsing on the crater, only to be pushed out again as debris, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in its latest bulletin.

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Loud booming sounds, like that of thunder, accompanied the eruptions, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer near the mountain.

“The public is strongly advised to be vigilant and desist from entering the 8-kilometer radius danger zone, and to be additionally vigilant against pyroclastic density currents, lahar and sediment-laden stream flows,” the bulletin said.
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Pyroclastic currents are the superheated clouds of gas, ash and other volcanic debris that burn everything in their path as they speed down the slopes of the 2,460-meter volcano in Albay province.

The institute said these materials were building blocks for lahar mammoth debris flows that could find their way into streams and rivers and mow down surrounding communities.

An earlier Mayon eruption passed without any casualties in 2006, but four months later a typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from its slopes, killing about 1,000 people.
On Saturday, Phivolcs issued its first lahar warning on Mayon this year due to incessant rain that is usual in the region at this time of the year.

A day later, Phivolcs made a video recording of lahar flowing down a river near Daraga town south of the volcano, though it did not cause any damage or casualties.

Source - inquirer.net