Environment and natural resources

Forests and forestry

Authorities Counsel Forest Fire Offenders in Vientiane

Last week, the Vientiane Province government counseled 65 locals who were caught burning forest land in Phou Phanang National Bio-Diversity Conservation Area to reeducate and raise awareness on the harmful long-term effects of illegal logging and deforestation. The group was sent to a training and ...

Phontham Visapra

Fire in Phou Phanang Forest Contained After Nine Grueling Days

The fire, which was caused by agricultural burning in the area, had spread to 17 different villages in the Sangthong district, causing damage to an area of around 120 hectares of woodland.Around 600 people, including officials and local residents, were mobilized on 20 March to ...

Jonathan Meadley

Cassava Boom Leading to Deforestation, Air Pollution in Laos

The demand for cassava has seen it become the most profitable agricultural product in Laos, as demonstrated by the country’s February trade figures: cassava was the leading export item, with figures totaling USD 85 million. Laos exports most of its cassava to Thailand and Vietnam, where ...

Manyphone Vongphachanh

Burning, Logging Rife in Phou Khao Khouay National Park

According to the tourists, who spoke with Laotian Times on condition of anonymity, areas of the park are being cleared for farming and other activities. The photographs show large stretches of land that have been fenced off and destroyed in preparation for agricultural planting.Phou Khao Khouay National ...

Latsamy Phonevilay

Illegal logging in Laos hinders government’s forestation goals

Illegal logging, concessions to private developers and agricultural encroachment on forest lands are jeopardizing Laos’s goal of achieving 70% forest cover density by 2035.That’s according to a recent survey by Laos’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which pointed to an increase in illegal logging in ...

RFA Lao

Luang Prabang Engulfed in Toxic Smoke as Landfill Fire Gets Out of Control

Authorities in Luang Prabang expect that it will take longer to extinguish the fire at a landfill in Lak 8 village amid ongoing forest fires due to slash-and-burn agriculture being practiced across the province.Vientiane Mai reports that a fire broke out at a landfill on 13 February ...

Manyphone Vongphachanh

US signs agreement to help Laos fight illegal logging in protected forests

​But some say providing arable land to poor families around forests would be better approach. The United States has agreed to provide funding and equipment to Laos to help combat illegal logging in its national protest forests, an official at the U.S. Embassy in Laos said. ...

RFA lao

Tiger Cubs Trafficked from Laos Confiscated in Thailand

After months of questioning the husband following initial suspicions, the police managed to arrest the couple red-handed and seized four baby tigers from them that were allegedly trafficked from Laos. The Thai police had been investigating the husband since September, and authorities eventually arrested him ...

Phontham Visapra

Cassava Farmers Encroach Upon Dong Hua Sao National Park

According to images released on social media by a local resident, hundreds of trees in the Dong Hua Sao National Bio-Diversity Conservation Area have been cut down in preparation for cassava plantations. The Dong Hua Sao National Protected Area is located about 30 kilometers east of Pakse ...

Manyphone Vongphachanh

The mayor issued a ban on invasion at the national park

The mayor of the capital issued Order No. 031 / dated 18 August 2021 on the protection of the Phu Phanang Phu – Khao Khwai National Protected Area to prevent forest encroachment, eliminate every construction in the protected area, prohibit trade in logging equipment, block ...

Laopattana

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