A test run of the first blast furnace of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Limited Company must undergo strict supervision after the firm restarted its operations on May 29, said an official.

When a bill on amendments and supplements to the Law on Environmental Protection Tax is approved by the National Assembly, environmental protection taxes on HCFC (hydro-choloro-flouro-carbon) solution and plastic bags might be raised.

 Locals in the Central Highlands have planned to plant 12,559 hectares more of forests and over 4.57 million scattered trees in this raining season.

 Farmers in the southern coastal province of Phu Yen are losing hundreds of billions of dong as their lobsters are dying en mass.

 The Mekong Delta region, home to about 18 million people, is Vietnam’s largest agriculture hub. However, the region faces serious erosion in river and sea banks due to climate change and human factors.

Hundreds of metres of coastal land in Binh Thuan has been lost to the sea in the last ten years. Residents along the coastline live under the threat of homelessness as their house can be swallowed by the sea at any time due to climate change.

A ban on sand mining in the area of Thu Bon River’s Cua Dai estuary and Hoi An’s beaches may help save Cua Dai Beach from worsening erosion.

 Developing renewable energy sources is more urgent than ever to meet demand for power, ensure sustainable growth and cope with climate change in the country, experts said yesterday at a meeting held in HCM City.

 Due to insufficient management, hundreds of hectares of forest in Gia Lai province have been illegally converted to domestic housing and agricultural land.

 The Central Highlands provinces have halted licensing projects involving the use of natural forests for other land needs, particularly for industrial tree plantations, and those likely to overexploit forest products in converted forest areas.

 Two Tibetan bears which were illegally possessed in southern Tay Ninh province were sent to Hon Me Rescue Centre in the southern province of Kien Giang.

 Viet Nam is the third largest footwear maker in Asia and fourth in the world (behind China, India and Brazil), accounting for about 10 per cent of global production.

 Representatives from different Vietnamese enterprises committed to fulfill their responsibility to protect wildlife at a workshop held today in Hanoi.

 The Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) and Clean Air Asia have designed an action plan on air quality management for the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

 HCM City has urged the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to strengthen promotion of eco-friendly plastic bag usage, to limit the impact of nylon bags on the environment.

 Miss Vietnam Universe 2015 Pham Huong and runner-up Le Hang have begun a five-day trip to Kenya to join in a wild elephant protection campaign.

 With regard to the recent serious river bank landslides, experts have warned that if sand mining continues, the situation will become worse.

 After two consecutive years suffering from severe drought and saltwater intrusion, the Mekong Delta region is also vulnerable to other disasters, including soil erosion and landslides.

 Landslides along riverbanks and coastal areas in the Mekong Delta region has frequently increased in recent time, causing a huge loss of property and agricultural production.

 One year after the devastating marine environmental incident caused by the toxic spill, fishing and aquaculture activities have for the most part returned to normal, stated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday.