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(November 01, 2024) The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society, presented the biodiversity conservation status and mitigation policies for Lao PDR’s forests and wildlife, as well as Multilateral Environmental Agreements, to National Assembly Members. This high-level meeting was chaired by H.E. Mme. Pingkham Lasasimma, President of the Economic, Technology, and Environment Committee of the National Ass...

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(October 14, 2024) The Government of Lao PDR disseminated the new policies related to the Protected Areas (PA) Decree in the central, northern, and southern regions to ensure its successful implementation across the country. The dissemination workshops took place in Bolikhamxay, Oudomxay and Champassak provinces in presence of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Justice, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Wildlife Conservation Society...

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(September 17, 2024) The Government of Lao PDR adopted the new Decree on Protected Areas (PAs) on June 20th 2023, marking a major milestone for biodiversity protection in Lao PDR. Turning Protected Area Policies into reality requires dissemination and clear understanding by practitioners. Lao PDR’s biodiversity is currently under threat due to climate change, illegal wildlife trade, hunting and poaching coupled with high rates of deforestation causing fragmentation and loss of habitats. The legal framework ...

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(August 16, 2024) Following the adoption of the new Decree on Protected Areas (PA) in June 2023 by the Government of Lao PDR, the Roadmap for National Protected Areas Management and Sustainable Financing has been endorsed by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Assoc. Prof. Linkham Douangsavanh on August 8th 2024. The Roadmap serves as the reference guide for all PA stakeholders including the Lao Government, development partners, private sector, NGOs/CSOs, academia and local communities who will pla...

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(July 23, 2024) The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry disseminated the Standard Operating Procedure for Wildlife Health Surveillance in Lao PDR to prevent and reduce disease risks to human, animal and environmental health Relevant government sectors from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Wildlife Conservation Society launched the Wildlife Health Surveillance Standard Operating Procedure during a dissemination meeting in Vien...

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(June 06, 2024)     WCS is supporting the Protected Area Management Section of Bolikhamxay Province, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in the creation of a new National Park, by combining two protected areas and two protection forests: Phou Sithone Endangered Species Conservation Area and Phou Chomvoy Provincial Protected Area and the Nam Chat Nam Pan Protection Forest which connects the two protected areas as well as the Nam Chouane Nam Xang Protection Forest, which is also the Biodiversity...

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(April 29, 2024) Researchers and conservationists from Thailand visit the Xe Champhone Wetlands in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR, as part of a conservation study tour to restore the critically endangered Siamese crocodile A delegation from Thailand consisting of researchers and staff affiliated with the Department of National Parks (DNP), Wildlife and Plant Conservation and faculty members from Kasetsart University, as well as staff from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Thailand, visited Savannakhet pr...

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(March 14, 2024) 37 Siamese crocodiles were released back into their natural habitat in the Xe Champhone Wetlands, Savannakhet province, as part of a ceremony in presence of the Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Mr. Chanthanet Boualapha, the Vice-Governor of Savannakhet Province, Mr. Senesak Soulysak,  the Deputy Governor of Songkhone District, Monks, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and students. With less than 1000 Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) remaining in the wild,...

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(March 04, 2024) World Wildlife Day was celebrated this year under the theme ‘Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation’ and brought together the Department of Forestry from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the European Union Delegation to Lao PDR, the Embassy of France to Lao PDR, Wildlife Conservation Society and conservation partners, the Working Group 15.7 on Combating Wildlife Crime and students at the National University of Laos in Vientiane. ...

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(February 05, 2024) The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) from the central, provincial and district level, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Lao PDR join together in the Xe Champhone Wetlands in Savannakhet province in celebration of World Wetlands Day.The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) from the central, provincial and district level, and the Wildlife Conservation S...

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(June 21, 2023) After three years in the making, the Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Sonexay Siphandone adopted the new decree on protected areas in Laos on 20 June 2023, marking a major milestone for better management and governance of these biodiversity-rich zones. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) worked hand in hand with the Lao government, protected area practitioners and key stakeholders to strengthen this important national legislation, within the framework of the ‘Ecosystem Conservation through Int...

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(April 12, 2023) On Monday April 10th, 2023, the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held the meeting on Approval of the Xe Champhone Ramsar Management Plan under the co-chairmanship of Mr. Chanthaneth Boualapha, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and Mrs. Lingkham Sengtavanh, Vice Governor of Savannakhet Province with relevant participants from local level and INGOs including Provincial of Natural Resources and Environment; Provincial of Agriculture and F...

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(March 04, 2023) World Wildlife Day is celebrated globally every March 3rd to honor the birthday of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This year’s World Wildlife Day fell on the 50th Anniversary of CITES coming into existence and marked the launch of two key legislations in Lao PDR; the launching of the Government Decree implementing CITES in Lao PDR and the National Wildlife Health Surveillance Standard Operation Procedures. The launch of the Na...

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(February 12, 2023) Wetlands support biodiversity stability and growth, but did you know that 35% of the world’s wetlands have disappeared in the past 50 years? This is a trend that must be reversed. Wetland restoration has a dramatic impact on our globe and benefits us in multiple ways including reviving biodiversity, improving water supplies, storing carbon, reducing extreme weather, improves livelihoods, boosts eco-tourism, and enhances well-being. World Wetlands Day takes place globally every February ...

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(January 26, 2023) On Thursday January 26th, 2023, the Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry represented by Deputy Director General, PhD. Somvang Phimmavong, Deputy Director General and the Wildlife Conservation Society represented by Country Director, PhD. Santi Saypanya signed their sixth Memorandum of Understanding for Nam Et – Phou Louey National Park Management at the Provincial Finance Office in Luang Prabang in front of government officials from Ministry of Agriculture & F...

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(January 13, 2023) On January 13th 2022, 36 representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Union (EU) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) gathered to review the achievements and challenges met by the Ecosystem Conservation through Integrated Landscape Management in Lao PDR (ECILL). “WCS has been working in Laos since the 1980s when they first helped our government survey biodiversi...

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(December 02, 2022) “Many species are thriving as indicated by the sound of the birds and by the song of gibbons I can hear in the morning even from my house.” Mrs. Maipom Saysomphone, 28 years old, was born in Meungcham village, Xaychamphone District of Bolikhamxay. She is married to Mr. Bounsing and they have two sons, 9 and 7 years old. The family of four lives in her husband’s village, Sopkhone. She first became involved in The Ecosystem Conservation through Integrated Landscape Management ...

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(June 17, 2022) Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, together with their government partners and members of the Ban Natay Village Conservation Team conducted field biodiversity monitoring and collected eggs from the nest of a Siamese crocodile in the Greater Xe Champhone Wetlands in Savannakhet Province. Siamese crocodiles are critically endangered, with less than 1,000 individuals in the wild. In natural populations far less than 5% of eggs laid will be able to survive to adulthood. By collecting...

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(May 19, 2022) Vientiane Capital, 18 May 2022 – The Department of Forestry (DOF) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry held a national consultation workshop on 18 May 2022 among key stakeholders working to safeguard the nation’s protected areas with the finalization of the updated Decree on Protected Areas. As Lao PDR continues to strive towards middle-income country status and economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government of Lao recognizes the importance of sustainable econ...

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(November 01, 2021) Recent research currently undergoing peer review (Temmam et al., under review) has discovered the closest viral relatives to SARS-CoV-2 to date circulating in horseshoe bats inhabiting limestone cave systems in Northern Laos. It is suspected that these bat- borne coronaviruses have the same potential for infecting humans as early strains of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19 disease). Although this is new scientific information, it is important to recognize that these viruses are not...

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