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A short article on the current environmental problems/conditions of Lao PDR

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 A SHORT ARTICLE
ON THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IN LAOS, TOUNCHING
UPON THE POLICY AND STRATEGY OF CENTRAL AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS

Edited by: Bounkham Vorachit

Director General of Environmental & Social Impact Assessment Department
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Khampadith Khammounheang
Acting Director General of Department of Environment
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Jaakko Vesivalo
Technical Assistant of Environmental Management Support Programme
(EMSP) Component 2
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Written by: Aengphone Phaengsuwan

Director of Center for Environmental & Social Impact Assessment of
Agriculture & Tree Plantation Projects
Department of Environmental & Social Impact Assessment
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Vientiane Capital, February 29th 2012

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)

1 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR

A short article on the current environmental problems/conditions of Lao PDR,
touching upon the policy and strategies of central and local governments in
the Lao PDR.

Introduction of Lao PDR

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (in short Lao PDR or Laos) is situated in
the central Southeast Asian and surrounded by five neighboring countries namely
Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The country has a total land
mass of 236,800 square kilometers, most of which is mountainous area and lies in
the Mekong River Basin. Lao PDR is sparsely populated from north to south along
the Mekong River and consists of 49 ethnic groups. It is estimated that three-fourth
of the population in Laos lives by subsistence agriculture and similar activities. The
international “development lexicon” classifies Lao PDR as a least developed country
owing to its low income, low quality of life and economic vulnerability despite it has a
remarkable range of natural resources and environmental riches (Government of Lao
PDR, 2009).
In relation to natural capital, Lao PDR has abundance of natural resources,
particularly forestry, minerals, water resource and biodiversity. Rutal (2010) indicated
that wealth of Laos is relatively high at 54 percent in the form of natural assets,
including water and hydropower potential, agricultural land, forests and minerals
(Figure 1). This is higher than in Vietnam, and is more than double of that in Thailand
and Malaysia but physical capital in Laos accounts for only 11 percent which is
below the average for low income countries (Ruta, 2010).

Figure 1: Natural capital of Lao PDR

Agric land Hydro
30% 33%
9%

Natural Capital

54% Intangible Capital

37%
Product Capital
Forests Mineral
and PAs 16%
21%

2 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR

 However, natural capital in Laos is now challenged by population growth,
expanding agricultural land, climate change, illegal logging and hunting and
unsustainable exploitation of resources which is creating impacts on biodiversity and
environmental quality both nationally and locally (Prime Minister’s Office, 2010). The
World Bank and Science Technology and Environmental Agency (STEA)
acknowledged that the overall quality of environmental conditions in Lao PDR
remains good but the nature, human activities and pace of economic growth are
increasing pressures on the environment which requires policy to focus on eight
main challenges (World Bank & STEA, 2006):
• Forests and forest products;
• Land management;
• Biodiversity and habitats;
• Water resources;
• Urban development;
• Institutions and instruments;
• Financing;
• Awareness and participation.

Today, the main environmental issues in Laos are shifting focus from eight
challenges to four pressing issues that the Government of Laos requires greater
commitments to tackle the emerging environmental concerns arising from them.
These environmental problems are land degradation, natural forest degradation,
water shortage and unsustainable exploitation of minerals (Ministry of Natural
Resource and Environment (MONRE), 2011).

Natural forest management

Lao PDR retains the highest proportion of forest and woodland in the
Southeast Asia, comprising both deciduous and evergreen forests but the forest
cover was decreased from 49 percent of total land area in 1982 to 47 percent in
1989 (Taylor & Francis Group, 2008). Although conditions of forest cover declining
are different across the country, shifting cultivation and illegal logging are known as
the main causes. The most recent government figure also showed that forest cover
continued declining to 41.5 percent in 2002 (Prime Minister’s Office, 2005) but it
increases to 46.6 percent in 2010 (MONRE, 2011).

3 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR

 A reason behind forest cover increase in recent years is due to commitments
of the Government of Laos to protect its National Protected Areas (NPA) and aim to
increase the proportion of forest cover to 70 percent of the total land area by 2020
(Prime Minister’s Office, 2010). In addition, the Government of Laos has put great
efforts to stop slash and burn cultivation and illegal logging while promoting tree
plantation in the areas where forests are degrading. Despite the great efforts and
commitments, the average of natural forest cover is likely to decline because of large
scale agriculture projects that change the natural forest setting into industrial tree
plantation or other forms of cash crops farming.

Land and land use management

In general, quality of land in Lao PDR is still in good condition even though
some agricultural lands and wetlands are being degraded (MONRE, 2011).
Agricultural land degradation is resulting from shifting cultivation in forested lands,
specifically in upland areas. While some forms of shifting agriculture, including long
rotational swidden are not harmful to the land, short rotational swidden or known as
“pioneer slash and burn” has huge impacts on the land, in particular where the land
has high degree of slope, and this method is still used in Lao PDR. Degradation of
wetland in Laos is still at the early stage and it is resulting from chemical wastes in
industrial sector and long periods of droughts.
To combat land degradation and rapid loss of forest cover, the Government of
Laos classified land use into eight categories namely agricultural land, forest land,
wetland, industrial land, transportation land, cultural land, military land and
residential land (National Assembly, 2003). Since early 1990s, the Government of
Laos has carried out a natural resource management program, known as Land and
Forest Allocation policy, across the country with financial support from various
international organizations. The program plays very important role in supporting
sustainable community resource management based on local participants and
customary practices.
After almost two decades of implementation of the program, Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry reported that Lao PDR has natural land with a total of
23,680,000 hectares, out of which 6,136,264 hectares are degraded land with no
forest cover (MONRE, 2011). Land degradation is mainly resulted from practicing of
slash and burn cultivation and it is reported that provinces in the north, including
Louangprabang, Houaphan, Udomxay, Louangnamtha and Phongsaly are
4 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR
experiencing bigger problems than provinces in the south because most of
agricultural land in the north, approximately 80 percent, is located in mountainous
areas with high degree of slope which is susceptible to soil erosion.
In contrast, agricultural lands in some provinces in the middle part of Lao PDR
are facing problems of biodiversity loss and salinity. In Savannakhet province about
772,762 hectares of degraded forest land in Uthomphone, Artsphangthong and
Sonbuly Districts were cleared for large scale cash crops farming and tree planting
projects (MONRE, 2011). These mono-culture industrial plantation projects pose
enormous negative impacts on natural resources - its forests and biodiversity, that
are being cleared at the alarming rate and also soils because much of the top soil in
the areas is covered by sand which is vulnerable to become arid lands in the future
(UNDP, 2010).

Water resource quality

In Lao PDR, surface water is a major source for urban water supply because
most of towns are situated along rivers, while ground water is a main source for
people in remote areas. In relation to fresh water, Lao PDR has the largest available
renewable fresh water per capita ratio in Asia (Phanvily, 1998). In addition, a study
indicated that about 90 percent of total land mass of Lao PDR is sited in watershed
areas of the Mekong River Basin. It is estimated that approximately 35 percent of
water in the Mekong River flows from rivers and streams that are branches of
Mekong River in Laos (MONRE, 2011).
The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology also reported that the average
of rain fall in Laos was decreased from 2,727 mm in 2007 to 1,632.8 mm in 2010
(Table 1) even though the figures differ from one location to another. For example,
while the average rain fall in northern part of Laos indicates at 1,300 mm, the
average rain fall in the south is above 3,700 mm (MONRE, 2011).

Table 1: The average rain fall per annum

Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Rain 2,549 2,727 2.232 1,891 1,632.8
fall/mm
Source: Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (2011)

5 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR

 In recent years, even though both surface and groundwater quality is still in
good condition, water quantity of Mekong River and other branch rivers are declining
in dry seasons. Particularly, in 2010, the water levels in Mekong River and its branch
rivers decreased rapidly and sharply and posed huge negative impacts on
agricultural activities as well as water supply in many areas. Moreover, some rivers
are becoming polluted because of pollution from industries, hydropower, mining,
agriculture and infrastructural development (MONRE, 2011). These effects also
damage the rivers’ ecosystems and cause food shortage which in turn worsens living
conditions of poor people.

Biodiversity and natural habitats

Lao PDR is known as the land of a million elephants and it is a country in
Southeast Asia that is rich in biodiversity and natural habitats. Despite of fairly poor
information and insufficient data, it is eyewitnessed that over-harvesting and wildlife
trade are by far the biggest threats to biodiversity and natural habitats. As part of its
efforts to prevent the loss of natural habitats, the Government of Laos established 20
National Protected Areas and two Corridors which cover almost 3.34 million hectares
or about 14 percent of the country (World Bank & STEA, 2006). Forest conservation
areas in provincial and district levels have also been promoted across the country.
Currently, there are approximately 2.04 million hectares of local forest conservation
or equivalent to 8.6 percent of the land area (MONRE, 2011).
However, both protected areas and the land around them have been
threatened by number of problems such as population growth, urban expansion,
large scale development projects and inappropriate environmental management
(World Bank & STEA, 2006). Now, it is realized that declining of natural resources
and biodiversity cause direct effects on local people, particularly poor people who
are mainly depend on the natural resources for food and incomes.

Climate change
Unlike in many other developing countries in the region, greenhouse emissions in
Laos remain low although the 2nd National Report on Climate Change revealed that
greenhouse emissions have significantly increased from 24 million tons in 1990 to 75
million tons in 2000 (MONRE, 2011). The 2nd Five Year Plan of National
Environmental Management 2011-2015 indicates that greenhouse gases are
generated from three major sources such as forest 66.9 million tons, agriculture 5.7
6 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR
million tons and hydropower 1.9 million tons while industry and commercial wastes
generate about 0.05 million tons and 0.2 million tons, respectively (MONRE, 2011).
The National Environmental Management Plan states that climate change in
Laos not simply increases temperature but it causes severe damage to crops
because of heavy rain, flood and long periods of droughts. In the past decade, Laos
has experienced number of substantial storms and floods, causing many hundred
thousand hectares of agricultural land and many lives lost (MONRE, 2011).

Policy Framework for Environmental Management

The Government of Laos has been putting efforts and commitments to a
number of international conventions in relation to environmental protection, including
UN Convention on Biodiversity, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN
Convention on Combating Desertification, a series of legal and regulative
frameworks, institutional arrangements as well as specific strategies in order to
ensure ecological sustainability being effectively carried out across the country
(Prime Minister’s Office, 2010).
At the national level, the Government of Laos is aiming to engage
international organizations, non-governmental organizations and development
partners to build a strong partnership for promoting sustainable development and
clean technology (MONRE, 2011). As pointed it out in the National Socio-economic
Development Plan, including the 6th five year plan (2006 - 2010) and the 7th five year
plan (2011 - 2015), the Government of Laos gives credits to socio-economic
development and poverty reduction while natural resources must be wisely utilized
and the environment needs to be well protected (Government of Lao PDR, 2009).
Moreover, the Government carries out assessments of implementation of current
regulatory mandates among different ministries and agencies and is strengthening
the enforcement.
At the local level, the Government of Laos is enforcing a system of land and
forest management, through formal arrangements with local communities that would
ensure benefits sharing with local people and increase their participation in natural
resource management (MONRE, 2011). More significantly, financial support and
developing skills for local government to enforce the environmental legislations,
guidelines and policies are crucial. The Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment also noted that strengthening the NPA system by allocating budgets

7 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR

 and working with local communities is priority to protect the NPA as well as enhance
watershed and biodiversity management.

Reference:
1. Giovanni Ruta. (2010). Lao PDR Development Report 2010: National Resource Management
for Sustainable Development. Vientiane: The World Bank.
2. Government of Lao PDR. (2009). Millennium Development Goals: Progress Report Lao PDR
th
2008. Retrieved in February 10 2012, from www.undplao.org/mdgs.
nd
3. Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MONRE). (2011). The 2 Five Year Plan of
National Environmental Management 2011 - 2015. Vientiane Capital.
4. National Assembly. (2003). Land Law and Decree on Implementing of Land Law. Vientiane:
The Ministry of Justice.
5. Phanvilay, K. (1998). Pilot Schemes for Community-Level Forest Management in Lao PDR: a
case study from Nam Ngum Watershed. Vientiane: The National University of Laos.
6. Prime Minister’s Office. (2010). Strategy on Climate Change of the Lao PDR. Vientiane
Capital.
7. Taylor & Francis Group. (2008). Land & Forest Allocation in Lao People’s Democratic
Republic: Comparison of case studies from community-based natural resource management
research. Journal of Socienty and Natural Resources.
8. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2010). Poverty - Environment
Initiative (PEI) Lao PDR: Economic, Social and Environmental impacts of investments in
plantations. Issues Brief 04/2010. Vientiane Capital.
9. World Bank & Science Technology and Environmental Agency. (2006). Lao PDR
Environment Monitor. Vientiane: The World Bank.

8 A short article on current environmental conditions in Lao PDR

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