(November 22, 2024) The Wildlife Conservation Society Lao PDR hosted the ‘Ecosystem Conservation through Integrated Landscape Management in Lao PDR’ (ECILL) project Steering Committee meeting co-chaired by Dr. Thoumthone Vongvisouk, Deputy Director General of the Department of Forestry, Ms. Veerle Smet, Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Lao PDR, Mr. François-Xavier Duporge, Country Director of the Agence Française de Développement in Lao PDR and Dr. Santi Xaypanya, WCS Laos Country...

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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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(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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(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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(July 31, 2013) Plenty of forests but no species to call them home Vientiane Times, July 17, 2013 By Keoxomphou Sakdavong Laos is rich in natural resources and biodiversity, yet there is only the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area (NEPL-NPA) which provides a suitable home for the country's many endangered species. NEPL-NPA is located across the three northern provinces of Huaphan, Luang Prabang and Xieng Khuang. It has a total area of 4,200 sq km and features 129 villages in eight districts. The N...

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(July 04, 2013) Vientiane Times, July 5, 2013 Nearly 100 officials from three northern provinces gathered in Luang Prabang province last week to discuss the sustainability of the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area (NPA), regarded as one of the most important NPAs in Laos. The annual meeting, organised by the Ministry of National Resources and Environment with support from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the World Bank, aimed to review achievements and the future direction of the 420,000ha pro...

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(June 30, 2013) Manoeuvring a long-tail boat with a bamboo stick, a Khmu boatman, Mr Khounthone, pointed his headlight left and right, up and down to spot wildlife along the Nam Nern River. He was tracing the bushes and trees like a painter, colouring silhouettes on a grey canvas made by the pale moonlight. Everyone in the boat was silent, while gripping his or her flashlight and holding its switch like the trigger of a gun, ready to shoot. The only sounds came from birds and cicadas, and the cascading water a...

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(December 18, 2012) On December 18th, 2012, the WCS Lao program signed a six year agreement with the Lao Department of Forestry to support the implementation of the Lao – GermanClimate Protection through Avoided Deforestation (CliPAD) project in Houaphan Province. Under this agreement, WCS will provide technical services related to REDD+ safeguards, national protected area (NPA) management, law enforcement strategy development and general REDD+ readiness support. CliPAD is a €14 million development proj...

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(July 25, 2012)   -  

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(May 21, 2012) Hanoi, Vietnam –  Two decades after the sensational discovery of a new ungulate species called the saola, this rare animal remains as mysterious and elusive as ever. WWF, the Saola Working Group (SWG) of the IUCN Species SurvivalCommission and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) warn the species is sliding towards extinction because of intensive hunting pressure and poor reserve management.    A cousin of cattle but recalling anantelope in appearance, the saola was disc...

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(September 05, 2010) One of the rarest and most mysterious animals in the world, the saola of Laos and Vietnam, has been seen by biologists for the first time in more than ten years.  The government of Lao PDR confirms that in late August villagers in Xaychamphon District of Bolikhamxay Province caught a saola, and were holding it in a pen in the forest.  The Lao government, in cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), immediately dispatched a technical team to examine the saola and release...

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