Environmental issues in Laos
Laos is increasingly suffering from environmental problems, with deforestation a particularly significant issue,[1] as expanding commercial exploitation of the forests, plans for additional hydroelectric facilities, foreign demand for wild animals and nonwood forest products for food and traditional medicines, and a growing population all create increasing pressure.
The United Nations Development Programme warns: "Protecting the environment and sustainable use of natural resources in Lao PDR is vital for poverty reduction and economic growth."[2]
Dams
In April 2011,
Deforestation
A 1992 government survey indicated that forests occupied about 48 percent of Laos's land area. Forest coverage decreased to 41 percent in a 2002 survey. Lao authorities have said that, in reality, forest coverage might be no more than 35 percent because of development projects such as dams, on top of the losses to illegal logging.[11]
Most of the deforestation during the 1980s stemmed from the northern region in which the poor destroyed about 300,000 hectares annually.[12] A study conducted in Savannakhet Province revealed a pattern in which the households extracting resources from the forest tended to be the rural poor.[13] It cross referenced the data collected from two groups, the poor and the wealthy to identify possible correlations between welfare and the dependency on the extraction of natural resources to support one's livelihood. Compared to the wealthy group, the poor had higher levels of exposure to environmental, health, and economic shocks in addition to having little capital such as education and financial assets.[13] While the poor depended more on nonwood commodities from the forest to increase food security, the wealthier group would harvest timber and wood for environmental income.[13] A study found a correlation between the loss of forest coverage with socio-economic development and physical factors, such as the elevation and slope of the land or its distance to main roads.[14] The closer a forest was situated to a main road, the increased chances of deforestation; the same applied to the proximity of villages to nearby forests.[14] Furthermore, high elevation areas in the mountains tended to faced higher deforestation rates compared to the flat lands or lower areas.[14] While there is a higher amount of settlements and villages in the lower flat lands, most of the human activities is concentrated in the higher areas thus explaining the different rates.[14] A plethora of environmental issues contributing to the deforestation include problems with the urban environment, mismanaged mineral exploitation, and careless development planning for industrial and transportation sectors.[15]
Laos had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.59/10, ranking it 98th globally out of 172 countries.[16]
Invasive species
Among the many ongoing issues threatening Lao's ecosystem with deforestation, there is a growing concern about
Conservation efforts
Government intervention policies have been implemented to address concerns such as unsustainable timber harvesting, slash-and-burn cultivation, and the allocation of forestland to other purposes such as agriculture, industry, and infrastructure development.[12] The major causes of continued forest degradation from that point onward was not due to policy failure, but rather a lack of multiple factors which include: funding, law enforcement, experienced workers, and organization in the economic sector.[12] Despite all this, there have been other policy attempts and interventions that have been successful in aiding the problem. Reducing the rural population, allowing for tree plantation development, and transitioning from upland rice cultivation to commercial market oriented agricultural practices, contributed to the efforts increasing the amount of forest coverage in Laos.[17] Of the commercial market oriented agricultural practices, the one that saw great success in forest coverage increase is linked to the Southern region's rubber plantations, which has been increasing in number due to rubber being a valuable commodity giving farmers incentive to plant more trees.[14] While it did increase forest coverage, native forests and shifting cultivation lands were subject to change and decline as they transformed into rubber plantations especially during the boom periods of rubber prices, altering the overall biodiversity in the ecosystem.[14]
Government policies
As a means of regulating the country's environmental degradation, the Laos government implemented a new article to the Environmental Protection Law in 2013 that requires the natural resources and environment sector to develop a report every three years to assess the current state of the environment.[18] Amidst the implementation of new laws, however, to regulate the logging industry, there has not been much transparency regarding the provincial government's involvement with the smuggling and foreign investors.[19] Despite implementing the national export ban on timber in 2016, logs are still being smuggled on a regular basis to Lao's neighboring countries, particularly China and Vietnam to be used as materials for luxury furniture.[20] An anonymous witness account revealed that particular provincial governors are safeguarding the hidden illegal lumber, manipulating the reports, and hiding the total number of seized logs to protect the interests of their foreign investors.[20] As such there seems to be a lack of oversight in the ongoing matter.[19]
NGOs and activism
USAID also implemented a program called Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests (LEAF) from 2011 to 2016 to reduce greenhouse gases and minimize the consequences of deforestation.
Funded by the German government through the KfW development bank, the GIZ CliPAD project oversaw the creation of a national and provincial
References
- ^ "Laos Environmental problems & Policy". United Nations Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Energy & Environment for Sustainable Development". United Nations Development Programme. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ Buncombe, Andrew (20 April 2011). "Mekong ecology in the balance as Laos quietly begins work on dam". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Vietnam worries about impacts from Laos hydroelectric project". Voices for the Laotian Who do not have Voices. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Laos to keep building dams despite negative impacts". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
- ^ Osborne, Milton (29 June 2011). "Mekong dam plans threatening the natural order". The Australian.
- ^ Environmental Investigation Agency (26 September 2012) "Laos' forests still falling to 'connected' businesses"
- ^ "U.S. furniture demand drives illegal logging in Laos". illegal-logging.info. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ CleanBiz.Asia News (31 July 2011) "Vietnam army accused of illegal timber trading in Laos" [1]
- ^ Radio Australia News (3 October 2012) "Laos failing to act on illegal logging, says environmental agency"
- ^ "Illegal Logging Increasingly Prevalent in Laos". voanews.com. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ S2CID 140650841.
- ^ ISSN 1085-3278.
- ^ hdl:2440/114346.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pallewatta, Nirmalie Alexis T. Gutierrez; Reaser, Jamie K.; Gutierrez, Alexis T. (2003). "Invasive Alien Species in South-Southeast Asia" (PDF). www.doi.gov. The Global Invasive Species Programme. Retrieved 2018-12-15.
- PMC 7723057.
- ISSN 2158-0103.
- ^ Environmental Protection Law (Revised). Vientiane, Laos: National Assembly of Laos. 2012. p. 10.
- ^ a b "Laos: Illegal Timber Exports | Global Legal Monitor". www.loc.gov. Johnson, Constance. 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b "Logging Continues in Laos as Provinces Ignore Export Ban". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2018-12-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests". Winrock International.
- ^ a b c d e Kallabinski, Jens; Koch, Sebastian (April 2017). "Climate Protection Through Avoided Deforestation [Fact Sheet]" (PDF). Giz. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 8, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.