LAOS

Until recently, the forests in Laos have remained generally free from exploitation and a large proportion of the forests have been undisturbed by commercial activities.

The state owns all land in Laos, and commercial harvesting is carried out almost exclusively by state-owned enterprises or by joint ventures associated with these companies. Before 1986 the industry was focussed on meeting domestic demand, but the introduction of the New Economic Mechanism led to a rapid acceleration in exports. High intensity logging in concessions without post-harvest management practices in place resulted in progressively degraded forests, an increase in species harvested and reductions in timber quality.

In 1991, concerns about unsustainable logging practices and corruption led to a presidential decree banning logging. The decree noted that ..illicit logging, document falsification and corruption of cadres and people also appeared in the wood business circle. Logging is, however, still permitted in areas designated for hydroelectric or irrigation reservoirs, electricity lines and other infrastructural projects and these are a major source of environmental concern. There are few harvesting standards in place, few incentives for efficient harvesting practices and little monitoring to ensure compliance with regulations. There are continuing allegations of large-scale illegal logging by Vietnamese military-owned companies, with the involvement of Laotian military officials, and claims that civilians have been driven from forest areas by the illegal operators.

The Laos government has a stated goal of bringing the remaining natural forest under sustainable management, primarily through a shift to community participation. Under a forest land allocation scheme, district authorities provide user rights to forest land through the issuing of Land Certificates. These are valid for three years after which, if the holder can demonstrate the land has been used in accordance with regulations, an application can be made for long-term user rights. There are also a number of initiatives under the World Bank/government of Finland Forest Management and Conservation Program (FOMACOP) providing training and technical assistance to communities in managing forests.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
02/05/2013	Ecosystems in the Greater Mekong: Past trends, current status, possible futures The Greater Mekong subregion in Southeast Asia risks losing more than a third of its remaining forest ...	WWF-Greater Mekong
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26/09/2012	Checkpoints: How Powerful Interest Groups Continue to Undermine Forest Governance in Laos In July 2011 the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released a report entitled Crossroads, ...	EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency)
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28/07/2011	Crossroads: The Illicit Timber Trade Between Laos and Vietnam This report from EIA highlights an illegal trade in banned timber from Laos into Vietnam, where it supplies ...	Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
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01/07/2011	Baseline Study 2 Lao PDR: Overview of Forest Governance, Markets and Trade Over the past decade in Lao PDR, new regulations and policies related to logging and timber exports have ...	Forest Trends (Keith Barney and Kerstin Canby)
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01/07/2011	Timber Trade Flow Maps of China and the Mekong Region This report gives an overview of the timber trade flows in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, ...	EFI (European Forest Institute)
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01/07/2011	Lao PDR: Overview of Forest Governance, Markets and Trade As part of EFI’s information collection role, a number of forest governance, markets and trade ...	EFI/Forest Trends (Keith Barney and Kerstin Canby)
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01/12/2010	Chainsaw Milling: Supplier to Local Markets Chainsaw milling, the on-site conversion of logs into lumber using chainsaws, is supplying a large proportion ...	ETFRN (European Tropical Forest Research Network)
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01/04/2010	Quotas, Powers, Patronage, and Illegal Rent-Seeking: The Political Economy and the Timber Trade in Southern Laos Forests are extremely important to the people of Laos. They are the basis for the livelihoods of most ...	Forest Trends & UKAID (Ian Baird)
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01/01/2010	Timber Markets and Trade between Laos and Vietnam: A Commodity Chain Analysis of Vietnamese-Driven Timber Flows The Vietnamese wood manufacturing industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, becoming one of the ...	Forest Trends
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19/03/2008	Borderlines: Vietnam's Booming Furniture Industry and Timber Smuggling in the Mekong Region Vietnam has become a hub for processing huge quantities of unlawfully-logged timber from across Indochina, ...	Environmental Investigation Agency and Telapak
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01/01/2008	Forest anti-corruption advocacy in Asia-Pacific: Transparency International Strategy 2008-2012 The TI Forest Anti-Corruption Advocacy Programme (TI FAAP) addresses corruption as a primary driver of illegal ...	Transparency International
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01/03/2005	Approaches to Controlling Illegal Forest Activities: Considerations from Southeast Asia This paper discusses illegal forest activities from the perspective of tropical timber producing Southeast ...	Asia Forest Network (Akiko Inoguchi, Rowena Soriaga and Peter Walpole)
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01/10/2004	ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on Forestry for 2005 – 2010 This action plan was endorsed on October 2004 in Yangon. It discusses development of a common certification ...	ASEAN
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
22/05/2013	Laos: possible to adopt timber trade regulations According to the Vientiane Times, Laos is examining the conditions necessary to enforce international ...	IHB
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20/05/2013	A Plague of Deforestation Sweeps Across Southeast Asia In 1968, during the six-month siege of Khe Sanh — one of the most bitterly fought battles of the ...	Yale Environment 360
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13/05/2013	Deutsche Bank and IFC accused of bankrolling Vietnam firms' land grabs Two Vietnamese firms bankrolled by Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation – the ...	The Guardian
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02/05/2013	New forest loss figures highlight need for green growth in the Greater Mekong The Greater Mekong subregion in Southeast Asia risks losing more than a third of its remaining forest ...	WWF
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26/09/2012	Corruption still plundering forests in Laos for furniture The forests of Lao are still suffering from widespread destruction with the government turning a blind ...	Mongabay.com
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29/06/2012	VN urges ASEAN nations to save forests The ASEAN community must co-operate more profoundly at all levels to promote sustainable forest management ...	VietNamNet Bridge
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17/04/2012	Laos: Communal land titles could save more than forests Vientiane - With pressure on natural resources increasing in Laos, the first community land titles granted ...	IRIN News
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26/03/2012	UN food agency calls for measures to preserve natural teak forests The United Nations food agency today called for implementing measures to preserve natural teak forests, ...	UN News Centre
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22/03/2012	Ha Tinh Province investigates illegal deforestation Investigation Police in the central province of Ha Tinh on Wednesday said they would take strict action ...	Saigon GP Daily, Viet Nam
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13/01/2012	Nine more Cambodian ‘loggers’ nabbed in Laos Nine Cambodians had been apprehended after illegally entering Laos near the Stung Treng border on Tuesday, ...	The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia
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20/12/2011	Deforestation, Mekong River's biggest threat The biggest threat the Mekong River's ecological system faces is not the controversial dam-building ...	China.org.cn
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08/12/2011	ASEAN justices reach common vision on environment Chief Justices and senior judiciary from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed ...	IIFL
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08/09/2011	EIA responds to criticism of crossroads report London - The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a London-based international NGO, strongly refutes ...	EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency)
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01/09/2011	VN denies illegal timber trade with Laos Ha Noi - Viet Nam authorities have rejected claims from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) ...	Viet Nam News
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24/08/2011	Asia’s forest rangers train to boost defenses against poaching and illegal logging Forest rangers from across Asia began intensive counter poaching operations training today under a new ...	PhuketIndex, Thailand
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14/08/2011	Illegal logging: from the rainforest to your dining room Bangkok, Thailand — Is your coffee table stamped “Made in Vietnam”? ...	Global Post, US
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28/07/2011	Report: Vietnam makes millions off illicit log trade with Laos Bangkok - Vietnam last year imported about 500,000 cubic metres of illegally harvested timber from neighbouring ...	Monsters and Critics
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22/06/2011	Laos announces crackdown on illegal logging, timber smuggling Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong ordered authorities to crack down on illegal logging and timber ...	Mongabay.com
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04/04/2011	German aid agency donates 4 million euros for Lao reforestation Vientiane - The German International Cooperation Agency donated 4 million euros (5.7 million dollars) ...	Monsters and Critics
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05/10/2010	A tree falls in Laos Vientiane - With Pakistan suffering from unprecedented deforestation-driven flooding, are once forested, ...	Asia Times
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03/06/2010	Forestry dept: development must balance with environmental protection Forestry officials have warned this week that all development projects need to take environmental protection ...	Lao Voices
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26/01/2010	Malaysian timber products to use 'green lane' to EU Malaysia's timber products will use the "green lane" to the European market next year, ...	Business Times, Malaysia
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19/11/2009	Joining forces to strengthen responsible forestry in Lao PDR Vientiane, Lao PDR - WWF’s Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) and The Forest Trust (TFT) ...	WWF
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12/11/2009	Asia governors endorse U.N. forest carbon scheme Singapore - Six provincial governors from Indonesia, Laos and the Philippines on Thursday backed an expanded ...	Reuters
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08/09/2009	Forest protection measures must cover whole region At first glance, Vietnam appears to be one of the few success stories when it comes to preventing destruction ...	Environmental Research Web
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02/09/2009	Vietnam outsources deforestation to neighboring countries In conserving its forests while its growing export-oriented wood products industry, Vietnam outsources ...	Mongabay.com
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02/07/2009	REDD readiness plans for Panama, Guyana approved but rejected for Indonesia The World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) has approved REDD readiness plans (R-Plans) ...	Mongabay.com
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29/08/2008	Hmong National Development Appeals for End to Illegal Logging, Military Attacks in Laos Hmong National Development, Inc. and the Lao and Hmong community in the United States and abroad are ...	PressZoom (Netherlands)
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24/07/2008	14 countries win REDD funding to protect tropical forests Fourteen countries have been selected by the World Bank to receive funds for conserving their tropical ...	Mongabay.com
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20/05/2008	HCMC association dispels NGOs illegal timber Vietnam - A handicrafts and timber association has formally rejected international accusations that the ...	Thanh Nien Daily (Vietnam)
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18/04/2008	Vietnam denies it uses illegal timber Hanoi, Vietnam - Vietnam has denied a report by two non-governmental organizations, the UK-based Environmental ...	Earthtimes (UK)
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24/03/2008	U.S. furniture demand drives illegal logging in Laos Illegal wood for Vietnamese factories devastates forests in the Mekong region of Laos. Western desire ...	Mongabay.com (USA)
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19/03/2008	Garden furniture for UK market 'from illegally logged rainforest', says report Garden centres and online suppliers are unwittingly helping fuel the illicit trade in timber from threatened ...	Telegraph (UK)
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19/03/2008	Vietnam: How the country has become a hub for the region's illegal timber trade (EIA Press Release) Vietnam is operating as a centre for processing huge quantities of unlawfully-logged ...	EIA (UK)
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20/10/2007	Asia: Deforestation Symptomatic of Corrupt Regimes Chiang Mai, Thailand - When a global anti-graft watchdog surveys the Asian landscape for corruption indicators, ...	Inter Press Service (Italy)
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06/11/2006	New internet platform challenges the Forest Stewardship Council (Press Release) A new website launched today - www.fsc-watch.org - raises urgent ...	FSC Watch
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27/10/2006	Laos: What did Smartwood know when it issued the certificate? Last month I wrote an article about FSC certification of 'village forestry' in Laos. The article ...	WRM Bulletin (Uruguay)
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11/10/2006	How People suffer when journalists get it wrong A comment on the quality of recent NGO reporting on Laos Village Forestry. By Scott Poynton on behalf ...	Tropical Forest Trust (Switzerland)
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05/10/2006	Response to WRM Allegations that Communities in Savannakhet, Laos are involved in Illegal Logging (FSC Press Release) A recent WRM article by Chris Lang alleged that a community forestry project in Laos, ...	FSC (Germany)
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02/10/2006	Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood Response to WRM Allegations that Communities in Savannakhet, Laos are involved in Illegal Logging ...	Rainforest Alliance (USA)
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20/09/2006	Laos: FSC certified timber is illegal Laos - When a forestry operation is certified under the Forest Stewardship Council system, it should ...	World Rainforest Movement (Uruguay)
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13/04/2006	Asia pacific loses six million hectares of forest The Asia Pacific region lost more than six million hectares of natural forests, mainly converted to agricultural ...	Pertubuhan Berita Nasional (Malaysia)
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20/02/2006	Vanishing forests result of timber trafficking in SE Asia ...	Manila Times (Philippines)
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08/02/2005	Lao Veterans of America Joint Communiqué on Laos: "Vietnamese companies loot our natural resources" ...	Scoop (New Zealand)
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14/06/2004	Laos discovers lucrative eco-tourism niche With tourist income coming in, illegal logging and hunting of wildlife by poor tribesman has diminished ...	MSN News
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PRESENTATIONS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
28/01/2011	China and the Mekong: timber trade and governance snapshot	Kerstin Canby, Forest Trends
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23/06/2009	Forest law enforcement and governance in Lao PDR	Bill Maynard, Department of Forest Inspection, Laos
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18/06/2008	Borderlines: Timber smuggling in the Mekong Region	EIA (Julian Newman)
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LINKS

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	REPORT
Video: Asian Illegal Logging Exposed	National Geographic video of the coverage that resulted in the EIA/Telapak report Borderlines which shows illegal logging in Laos helping to feed Vietnam's booming furniture trade.	Broken link
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