Environment and natural resources

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 ...

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to build four decentralized wastewater treatment plants and a city-level excrement treatment facility in Pakse City, Champasack that would benefit around 9,000 people.These facilities are being developed under the Wastewater and Solid Waste ...

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 ...

​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. ...

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 ...

On 17 August, the Thai Supreme Administrative Court ruled to dismiss a lawsuit, filed by 37 Thai villagers against five Thai state agencies for their role in approving the Xayaburi hydropower dam’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).Filed 10 years ago, the Xayaburi lawsuit was the first community-filed ...

The existing dam has been extended to the side, and a new power plant extension with an installed capacity of 40 megawatts was constructed. The electrical and mechanical equipment now has a total installed capacity of 275 megawatts.The ceremony beginning the operation of the new ...

Two hydropower projects along Southeast Asia’s most important river have had measurable, but moderate, impact on water flow, sediment and fisheries, according to preliminary findings of a report by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) released last week.With roughly one year of monitoring data, the MRC ...

Xayaboury province is advising people living alongside the Mekong River to prepare for possible flooding, while neighbouring Thailand has warned its seven north-eastern provinces to brace for sudden overflows along the river until Thursday. The Lao province issued the alert following heavy rainfall in recent ...

Thousands of people in northern areas of Laos are suffering after rivers flooded following several days of heavy rain. Xayaboury, Huaphan and parts of Luang Prabang and Vientiane provinces have been the hardest hit, with at least 10 districts affected. In some areas, roads have ...