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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
Laos suffers from a number of environmental problems,
the most
important of which are related to deforestation. 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 put increasing pressure on the forests.
Deforestation not only destroyed at least 150,000 to
160,000
hectares of valuable forest annually in the 1980s, but
also caused
erosion--leading to siltation of reservoirs, navigation
channels,
and irrigation systems downstream--and reduced groundwater
levels.
The practice of swidden cultivation not only contributes
greatly to
deforestation, but, in 1987, also made Laos one of eleven
countries
in the world that together were responsible for over 80
percent of
net world carbon emissions amounting to a per capita
emission of
ten tons annually, compared with the world average of 1.17
tons per
capita. Further, during the Second Indochina War
(1954-75), Laos
was heavily bombed and left with tons of unexploded
ordnance and
bomb craters that ultimately altered the local ecology.
The government's desire to preserve valuable hardwoods
for
commercial extraction and to protect the forest
environment, as
well as international concern about environmental
degradation and
the loss of many wildlife species unique to Laos, have
motivated
efforts to prohibit swidden cultivation throughout the
country
(see Natural Resources
, ch. 2). This policy has a significant
effect on
the livelihoods of upland villagers dependent on swidden
cultivation of rice. Traditional patterns of village
livelihood
relied on forest products as a food reserve during years
of poor
rice harvest and as a regular source of fruits and
vegetables. By
the 1990s, however, these gathering systems were breaking
down in
many areas. The government has restricted the clearing of
forestland for swidden cropping since the late 1980s and
is
attempting to resettle upland swidden farming villages in
lowland
locations where paddy rice cultivation is possible.
However, both
the government's inability to ensure compliance with the
measures
and the attraction of Thai money for forest products
inhibits
implementation of the restrictions.
Although a lack of environmental planning, surveys, and
legislation diminishes the likelihood of substantial
improvement of
the environment in the near future, a number of decrees
were issued
to encourage environmental protection. These decrees
include
general principles for protecting forestland; prohibitions
on
cutting certain tree species; regulations on hunting,
fishing, and
the use of fire during the dry season; and regulations on
the
management and protection of forestland, wildlife, and
fish. The
use of manure and compost encouraged to help rejuvenate
soil.
Burning also encourages many forms of forest growth.
The government's commitment to environmental protection
is
affirmed in the constitution and in its policy of finding
new
occupations for swidden cultivators. In 1991 the Ministry
of
Agriculture and Forestry established a land use program
under the
National Forest Resource Conservation and Development
Strategy. The
program reserves 17.0 million hectares, including 9.6
million
hectares for forest protection, 2.4 million hectares for
wildlife
reserves and national parks, and 5.0 million hectares for
production. However, the commitment is mainly on paper:
the highest
priority park--Nam Theun--will be flooded by a
hydroelectric dam by
2000.
Data as of July 1994
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