Fewer new pollution hotspots have been found in Vietnam in the past few years, but vigilance is needed to control potential risks, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Vietnam Environment Administration has said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has decided to designate May 15-25 as the national week for natural disaster prevention and control.

Minister of National Defence Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich inspected dioxin detoxification work at Bien Hoa airport in the southern province of Dong Nai on February 15.

Vietnam is one of Asia’s five worst polluters of ocean plastic waste, according to international organisations. With 13 million tonnes of waste released to the ocean every year, the country ranks 17th in the world for ocean plastic waste pollution.

Vietnam has more than 10,200 sites prone to landslide risks located in ten northern mountainous localities, according to the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources under Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Comprehensive measures have been taken to preserve biodiversity at the Nui Chua National Park in the south central province of Ninh Thuan.

The air quality index (AQI) taken from 10 different air monitoring stations in Hanoi from February 11-12 showed air quality at a bad level, according to the Hanoi Environment Protection Sub-department.

More than 5,000 residents in Phuc Tho district of Hanoi have signed their names to a petition calling for an end to bear farming, said Deputy Director of the Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) Nguyen Thi Phuong Dung.

Hanoi aims to grow 400,000 trees this year and 600,000 trees between 2019 and 2020 to green up the city.

As many as 521 endangered wildlife animals were saved in Vietnam in 2018 thanks to the engagement of people and law enforcement agencies, NGO Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) announced on February 11.

Six more century-old trees in the northern port city of Hai Phong and the central province of Thanh Hoa have been recognised as heritage trees by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment (VACNE), lifting the total number of heritage trees nationwide to 3,526.

The Management Board of the Cham Islands Marine Protected Area has released a rare sea turtle that was accidently caught by a local fisherman back into its natural habitat.

Customs forces in the northern city of Hai Phong discovered nearly 1.4 tonnes of pangolin scales and 10 elephant tusks weighing more than 100kg hidden inside a container shipped from Nigeria.

The amount of scrap imported into Vietnam is likely to rise considerably, the Ministry of Finance has warned.

Forest rangers of Dinh Quan district in the southern province of Dong Nai have been provided with equipment to monitor and drive away wild elephants that have been destroying local households’ crops since the start of this year.

Air pollution in Hanoi in recent days has been so severe that health experts have warned people to stay indoors.

The Prime Minister has agreed in principle the organisation of the forum on sustainable and climate-resilient development of the Mekong Delta in October 2019.

A plant processing industrial wastewater into clean water for daily use and production, the first of its kind in Vietnam, was inaugurated at Song Than 2 industrial park in Di An town, the southern province of Binh Duong on January 26.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region could suffer serious salt intrusion by the end of this month, according to the Southern Irrigation Institute.

Organisations and individuals with creative ideas that can help Vietnam respond and adapt to the impacts of climate change may win the chance to access aid worth 75,000 USD for each project.