Lao PDR

Where in the World is Lao PDR?

Compared to its neighbours – Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – Lao PDR is a little know treasure of Southeast Asia, despite geographically being at the centre of the Greater Mekong – one of the fastest developing regions in the world.

Lao PDR is a culturally diverse country globally renowned for its unique biodiversity and much sort after natural resources. The Mekong River carves a path down its length. Over 40 percent of the country is swathed by forest. Home to the region's largest population of Asian elephants and the last wild populations of Mekong giant catfish - it is brimming with opportunity and life.

Around 49 ethnic tribes and four language families call Lao PDR home. The way these cultures relate to nature is often coloured by beliefs and traditions that have been practiced for centuries. Eighty percent of Lao’s 5.9 million people, over half of which is aged under 20 years, live in rural areas deriving a living from natural resources mainly in the form of fisheries, agriculture, livestock rearing, wildlife hunting and non-timber forest product harvest, such as, honey or rattan.

Today, Lao PDR is at developmental crossroads. Record economic development and investment taking place across the country, and if it is not planned and managed in a sustainable way, it threatens to permanently exhaust the wealth of natural resources and biodiversity that sustain livelihoods, industry and some of the world's most unique creatures. What is WWF Doing?

Crunch Time

How can Lao PDR sustain economic growth, while ensuring natural ecosystems remain viable?

Unprecedented economic development is underway within Lao PDR and across the Greater Mekong. This development is designed to strengthen regional transportation, telecommunications, energy production and usage, and cross-border trade.

Within Lao PDR this is driving the construction of major roads and hydropower dams and attracting huge foreign investment in Lao's relative abundance of mineral, land and forest resources.

If this economic development is not planned and managed in a sustainable way, it will exhaust the natural resources that supply local and national economies, and provide habitat to some of the world’s rarest creatures, causing irreversible biodiversity loss. What is WWF Doing?

Communities

Lao people have an intrinsic relationship with the environment, rich with culture and tradition that has carried over from generation to generation for centuries.

Like many ethnic groups around the world, the way communities in Lao PDR utilise, protect and impact the environment is shaped by unique cultural beliefs and traditions.

For example, in southern Lao PDR, many communities believe Siamese crocodiles embody sacred 'spirits' that if treated well will protect them from harm. To please the crocodile spirit, communities conserve the habitat where the crocodile lives by not littering or fishing in that area. This creates a fertile wetland not just for the crocodiles but all aquatic species, flora and fauna living in that area.

Now as economic development quickens across the country, one of the challenges facing today's generation is how to sustain the environment that supports the many traditions of this ethnically diverse land.

History: The Secret War

Lao PDR has had many incarnations over the years that still colour life and landscapes today.

One of the most defining periods in Lao PDR’s recorded history took place during the Vietnam War. Despite being political neutral during the war, Lao PDR suffered the fate of its geographic positioning. Caught in the crossfire between the North Vietnamese Army and US lead forces, it became the target of the world's largest clandestine bombing mission.

From 1964 to 1973, this small nation became the most heavily bombed country, per capita, in the history of warfare. US lead forces carried out more than 580, 000 bombing missions over Lao territory, dropping two million tonnes of bombs.

Today, it is unknown how many unexploded ‘bombies’ or unexploded ordinates (UXOs) remain embedded in landscapes countrywide. What is known, is that UXOs pose a more potent threat to wildlife than the hunter’s snare, and for communities, make everyday activities such as slashing or ploughing fields potentially deadly acts.