| Lao People's Democratic Republic | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam | ||||||||||||||||||
| National websites | Embassy of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | Ambassador-designate
VANG Lattanavong
chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 |
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| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Major Natural Resources | Because Laos has been isolated until very recently, there has been little documentation of its biodiversity and natural resources. It has many vastly different climates and habitats including mountainous areas and thick jungle areas like those in neighboring Vietnam. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | For many years, Laos was protected from many environmental concerns and threats to its natural resouces and incredible biodiversity because of its status as a politically isolated communist state and because of its close proximity to Vietnam and the military conflict that took place there in more recent years. As Laos has opened to tourism and development, however, they have faced many problems such as deforestation by commercial logging and various agricultural industries, habitat destruction as a direct result of these activitises and those involved in population growth and urbanization. In addition, Laos has become a supplier of wild animals, exotic hardwoods, and other non-wood forest products to many other nations in Asia and worldwide. Laws have been implemented to limit swidden or slash and burn agriculture pratices, though often for the wrong reasons. The governments main interest in the implementation of this legislation is the protection of the natural hardwood resources for their export value. Though the laws against swidden agriculture will help reduce air pollution, it will not prevent continued deforestation. The rate of deforestation continues to increase steadily, one figure reflecting an average annual deforestation rate of 129,000 hectares during the 1980's. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Land area | 230,800 sq. km | CIA Fact book | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 124,632 sq. km | CIA Fact book | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | (Sq. km) | CIA Fact book | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 6,000 sq. km | CIA Fact book | |||||||||||||||||
| Population: 5,260,842 | Density: | 22.79 /Sq. km | CIA Fact book | ||||||||||||||||
| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels: | Fraction of land area protected (%): | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | List
of Major Protected Areas No Listing for Laos
"In 1991 the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry
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Information Center for the Environment | |||||||||||||||||
| Endemic Species |
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| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendices | CITES-listed Species Database | ||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | No specific laws were mentioned. This
excerpt addresses the issue of environmental legislation.
"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 forest
land; prohibitions on
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| Signatory to CITES | not a signatory party | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | not a signatory party | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | not found | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | not a signatory party | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | |||||||||||||||||||
| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | Fish are raised in small home lots and all the harvested fish are consumed domestically. | Laos: A Country Study | |||||||||||||||||
| Forestry / deforestation | Forests cleared for fuel and industrial uses,
and for the export of hardwoods and other forestry products.
During the 1980s, Laos was being deforested at an average annual rate of 129,000 hectares, a rate that is increasing steadily. See Major Protected Areas above. |
International Development Research Centre Reports | |||||||||||||||||
| Ecotourism | Laos was only opened to tourism in 1988. It is not a important national industry. | Laos: A Country Study | |||||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | no information found | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hunting | no information found | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | |||||||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | "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." | Laos: A Country Study | |||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | Deforestation causes siltation that pollutes and reduces groundwater supplies. | Laos: A Country Study | |||||||||||||||||
| Development activities | The construction industry has increased steadily since the 1980's as the population has spread into new areas. This has also contributed to deforestation. | Laos: A Country Study | |||||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | not found | ||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | Legislation prohibiting swidden cultivation
will help to lower air pollution, but because these efforts are primarily
to preserve the more valuable hardwoods for harvest and export these laws
will not prevent deforestation by methods other than slash and burn clearing.
see "Major Environmental and Conservation Issues" above |
Laos: A Country Study | |||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | none found | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | none found | ||||||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by Erin Kathleen Thomas as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA