Laos' environment has up until now been largely threatened by legal and illegal logging, and while this may have been given temporary respite with the recent ban on logging, increased mining and agriculture and the widespread construction of hydroelectric dams is exerting considerable stress on the land. Tourism is recognised as a lucrative natural resource and may be the key to preserving Laos' remaining natural areas, but currently commerce seems to be winning against conservation.
Covering an area slightly larger than Great Britain, landlocked Laos shares borders with China, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Rivers and mountains dominate, folding the country into a series of often-spectacular ridges and valleys, rivers and mountain passes, extending westward from the Laos–Vietnam border.
Mountains and plateaus cover more than 70% of the country. Running about half the length of Laos, parallel to the course of the Mekong River, is the Annamite Chain, a rugged mountain range with peaks averaging between 1500m and 2500m in height. Roughly in the centre of the range is the Khammuan Plateau, a world of dramatic limestone grottoes and gorges where vertical walls rise hundreds of metres from jungle-clad valleys. At the southern end of the Annamite Chain, covering 10,000 sq km, the Bolaven Plateau is an important area for the cultivation of high-yield mountain rice, coffee, tea and other crops that flourish in the cooler climes found at these higher altitudes.
The larger, northern half of Laos is made up almost entirely of mountain ranges. The highest mountains are found in Xieng Khuang Province, including Phu Bia, the country's highest peak at 2820m, though this remains off limits to travellers for now. Just north of Phu Bia stands the Xieng Khuang plateau, the country's largest mountain plateau, which rises 1200m above sea level. The most famous part of the plateau is the Plain of Jars, an area somewhat reminiscent of the rolling hills of Ireland, except for the thousands of bomb craters. It's named for the huge prehistoric stone jars that dot the area, as if the local giants had pub-crawled across this neighbourhood and left their empty beer mugs behind.
Much of the rest of Laos is covered by forest, most of which is mixed deciduous forest. This forest enjoys a complex relationship with the Mekong and its tributaries, acting as a sponge for the monsoon rains and then slowly releasing the water into both streams and the atmosphere during the long dry season.
Springing forth nearly 5000km from the sea, high up on the Tibetan Plateau, the Mekong River so dominates Lao topography that, to a large extent, the entire country parallels its course. Although half of the Mekong's length runs through China, more of the river's volume courses through Laos than through any other Southeast Asian country. At its widest, near Si Phan Don in the south, the river can expand to 14km across during the rainy season, spreading around thousands of islands and islets on its inevitable course south.
The Mekong's middle reach is navigable year-round, from Heuan Hin (north of the Khemmarat Rapids in Savannakhet Province) to Kok Phong in Luang Prabang. However, these rapids, and the brutal falls at Khon Phapheng in Si Phan Don, have prevented the Mekong from becoming the sort of regional highway other great rivers have.
The fertile Mekong River flood plain, running from Sainyabuli to Champasak, forms the flattest and most tropical part of Laos. Virtually all of the domestic rice consumed in Laos is grown here, and if our experience seeing rice packaged up as 'Produce of Thailand' is any indication, then a fair bit is exported via Thailand too. Most other large-scale farming takes place here as well. The Mekong and, just as importantly, its tributaries are also an important source of fish, a vital part of the diet for most people living in Laos. The Mekong valley is at its largest around Vientiane and Savannakhet, which, not surprisingly, are two of the major population centres.
Major tributaries of the great river include the Nam Ou (Ou River) and the Nam Tha (Tha River), both of which flow through deep, narrow limestone valleys from the north, and the Nam Ngum (Ngum River), which flows into the Mekong across a broad plain in Vientiane Province. The Nam Ngum is the site of one of Laos' oldest hydroelectric plants, which provides power for Vientiane-area towns and Thailand. The Se Kong (Kong River) flows through much of southern Laos before eventually reaching the Mekong in Cambodia, and the Nam Kading (Kading River) and Nam Theun (Theun River) are equally important in central Laos.
All the rivers and tributaries west of the Annamite Chain drain into the Mekong, while waterways east of the Annamites (in Hua Phan and Xieng Khuang Provinces only) flow into the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam.
While subsistence hunting is permitted by the Lao government for local rural villagers, the sale and purchase of any wildlife is illegal in Laos. Here are a few pointers to make sure you're not contributing to the downfall of endangered species:
ANever buy a wild animal – dead or alive – at a market.
AThough they are available on some menus, avoid eating endangered species or prey of endangered species, such as soft-shelled turtles, rat snakes, mouse deer, sambar deer, squirrels, bamboo rats, muntjac deer and pangolins.
ANo matter the macabre value, avoid buying necklaces made from animal teeth; stuffed animals; spiders in glass frames; and witchy bottles of alcohol with snakes, birds, or insects inside.
AKeep an eye out for products with a label stating they are certified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). These are legal to buy in Laos and take home.
For more information visit the Wildlife Conservation Society (www.wcs.org/international/Asia/laos) website.
Laos still boats one of the least disturbed ecosystems in Asia due to its overall lack of development and low population density. Least disturbed, however, does not mean undisturbed, and for many species like the tiger and Asian elephant the future looks very dark indeed.
The mountains, forests and river networks of Laos are home to a range of animals both endemic to the country and shared with its Southeast Asian neighbours. Nearly half of the animal species native to Thailand are shared by Laos, with the higher forest cover and fewer hunters meaning that numbers are often greater in Laos. Almost all wild animals, however, are threatened to some extent by hunting and habitat loss.
In spite of this Laos has seen several new species discovered in recent years, such as the bent-toed gecko and long-toothed pipistrelle bat, while others thought to be extinct have turned up in remote forests. Given their rarity, these newly discovered species are on the endangered list.
As in Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and much of Thailand, most of the fauna in Laos belong to the Indochinese zoogeographic realm (as opposed to the Sundaic domain found south of the Isthmus of Kra in southern Thailand or the Palaearctic to the north in China).
Notable mammals endemic to Laos include the lesser panda, raccoon dog, Lao marmoset rat, Owston's civet and the pygmy slow loris. Other important exotic species found elsewhere in the region include the Malayan and Chinese pangolins, 10 species of civet, marbled cat, Javan and crab-eating mongoose, the serow (sometimes called Asian mountain goat) and goral (another type of goat-antelope), and cat species including the leopard cat and Asian golden cat.
Among the most notable of Laos' wildlife are the primates. Several smaller species are known, including Phayre's leaf monkey, François' langur, the Douc langur and several macaques. Two other primates that are endemic to Laos are the concolour gibbon and snub-nosed langur. It's the five species of gibbon that attract most attention. Sadly, the black-cheeked crested gibbon is endangered, being hunted both for its meat and to be sold as pets in Thailand. Several projects are underway to educate local communities to set aside safe areas for the gibbons.
It's a sad statistic that for every 10 elephants born in Laos, according to the Elephant Conservation Centre in Sainyabuli, only two survive. Veterinary care and the ability to give their working female elephant three to four years to gestate, birth, lactate and rear her calf is more time than the average mahout can afford. About four years too much. So no wonder the population is withering.
Laos might once have been known as the land of a million elephants, but these days only about 800 remain in total. Exact figures are hard to come by, but it's generally believed that there are about 300 to 400 wild elephants, roaming in open-canopy forest areas predominantly in Sainyabuli Province west of Vientiane, Bolikhamsai Province in the Phu Khao Khuay National Protected Area (NPA), and along the Nakai Plateau in central eastern Laos.
Hunting and habitat loss are their main threats. In areas such as the Nakai Plateau, Vietnamese poachers kill elephants for their meat and hides, while the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project in Khammuan Province has swallowed up a large chunk of habitat. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has an ongoing project in this area, with a long-term aim of establishing a 'demonstration site that will serve as a model for reducing human-elephant conflict nationwide'.
Working, domesticated elephants are also found in a number of provinces, totaling around 400. Logging elephants are currently put in extreme danger on the sides of mountains trying to access the last available hardwood. In 2016 the new president of Laos outlawed logging indefinitely. Since then many mahouts and their elephants have been out of a job. Given the considerable funds needed to feed an elephant (about US$250 per week), their only alternative is finding income through tourism, where ex-logging pachyderms give rides to tourists with a howdah (chair) strapped on their backs.
Given that the spine of an elephant is jagged and convex this is extremely painful. Most travellers are also unaware that to subjugate a young elephant to the point they can be trusted to carry travelers, it must first be subjected to the 'crush', a cage where it is broken down and starved, with regular beatings by a bull-hook. It is this fear of the bull-hook as an adult that makes them do as they are told. Elephant Village is the only camp we're aware of that is howdah and bull-hook free; tourists do still ride the elephants, though on the animal's neck rather than the back.
A further concern is that many of these logging elephants in search of a job are males and because of musthing, during which a huge release of testosterone occurs, their tempers can be mercurial to put it lightly, and are dangerous to ride on. The mahout cannot argue with his employer who runs the camp if he insists on working the elephant through this lethal period. And fatal events do occur, such as in Thailand in 2015 when a musthing elephant killed his mahout and a Scottish man and his daughter.
There are positive ways to encounter elephants in Laos. The impressive Elephant Conservation Center near Sainyabuli offers an immersive elephant experience for visitors which focuses on observing them in a natural area, and the yearly elephant festival held here is growing in popularity as a tourist event. In 2015, some 12 elephants and their mahouts walked 440km from the Elephant Conservation Center in Xayaboury Province to Luang Prabang (coinciding with the city's 20th anniversary as a World Heritage Site), stopping at schools and villages to reacquaint Laotians with their natural heritage and headline the plight of the nation’s rapidly shrinking elephant population.
All wild animals in Laos are endangered due to widespread hunting and gradual but persistent habitat loss. Laos ratified the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2004, which, combined with other legal measures, has made it easier to prosecute people trading species endangered as a direct result of international trade. But in reality you won't need 20/20 vision to pick out the endangered species, both dead and alive, on sale in markets around the country. Border markets, in particular, tend to attract the most valuable species, with Thais buying species such as gibbons as pets, and Chinese and Vietnamese shopping for exotic food and medicines.
Of the hundreds of species of mammals known in Laos, several dozen are endangered according to the IUCN Red List (www.iucnredlist.org). These range from bears, including the Asiatic black bear and Malayan sun bear, through the less glamorous wild cattle such as the gaur and banteng, to high-profile cats like the tiger, leopard and clouded leopard. Exactly how endangered they are is difficult to say. Camera-trapping projects (setting up cameras in the forest to take photos of anything that wanders past) are being carried out by various NGOs and, in the the Nakai-Nam Theun NPA, by the Nam Theun 2 dam operators themselves.
In the Nam Et-Phou Louey NPA, there are said to be nine tigers remaining, perhaps the last in Laos. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS; www.wcs.org) employs 150 staff composed of foresters, military officers, locals and biologists, as well as setting up a successful ecotourism community outreach program (Nam Nern Night Safari) to maintain this most delicate of populations. The WCS is also focusing its conservation activities on species including the Asian elephant, Siamese crocodile, western black-crested gibbon and Eld's deer.
Some endangered species are so rare they were unknown until very recently. Among these is the spindlehorn (Pseudoryx nghethingensis; known as the saola in Vietnam, nyang in Laos), a horned mammal found in the Annamite Chain along the Laos–Vietnam border in 1992. The spindlehorn, which was described in 14th-century Chinese journals, was long thought not to exist, and when discovered it became one of only three land mammals to earn its own genus in the 20th century. Unfortunately, horns taken from spindlehorn are a favoured trophy among certain groups on both sides of the border.
In 2005 WCS scientists visiting a local market in Khammuan Province discovered a 'Laotian rock rat' laid out for sale. But what was being sold as meat turned out to be a genetically distinct species named the Laonastes aenigmamus. Further research revealed the species to be the sole survivor of a prehistoric group of rodents that died out about 11 million years ago. If you're very lucky you might see one on the cliffs near the caves off Rte 12 in Khammuan Province.
Among the most seriously endangered of all mammals is the Irrawaddy dolphin, found in increasingly small pockets of the Mekong River near the Cambodian border. The construction of the Don Sahang dam, only 3.2km from where they feed, will involve the use of dynamite to blast away rocks.
Those new to Laos often ask: 'Why don't I see more birds?' The short answer is 'cheap protein'. If you can get far enough away from people, you'll find the forests and mountains of Laos do in fact harbour a rich selection of resident and migrating bird species. Surveys carried out by a British team of ornithologists in the 1990s recorded 437 species, including eight globally threatened and 21 globally near-threatened species. Some other counts rise as high as 650 species.
Notable among these are the Siamese fireback pheasant, green peafowl, red-collared woodpecker, brown hornbill, tawny fish-owl, Sarus crane, giant ibis and the Asian golden weaver. Hunting keeps urban bird populations noticeably thin. In 2008, scientists from the WCS and the University of Melbourne conducting research in central Laos discovered a new bird species, the bare-faced bulbul, the first bald songbird to be spotted in mainland Asia, and the first new bulbul to have been discovered in the last century.
Until relatively recently, it wasn't uncommon to see men pointing long-barrelled muskets at upper tree branches in cities as large as Savannakhet and Vientiane. Those days are now gone, but around almost every village you'll hear hunters doing their business most afternoons.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2005 forest covered more than 69% of Laos. Current figures linger at around 45%. Of these woodlands, about 11% can be classified as primary forest.
Most indigenous vegetation in Laos is associated with monsoon forests, a common trait in areas of tropical mainland Southeast Asia that experience dry seasons lasting three months or longer. In such mixed deciduous forests many trees shed their leaves during the dry season to conserve water. Rainforests, which are typically evergreen, don't exist in Laos, although nonindigenous rainforest species such as the coconut palm are commonly seen in the lower Mekong River valley. There are undoubtedly some big trees in Laos, but don't expect the sort of towering forests found in some other parts of Southeast Asia. The conditions do not, and never have, allowed these sorts of giants to grow here.
Instead the monsoon forests of Laos typically grow in three canopies. Dipterocarps – tall, pale-barked, single-trunked trees that can grow beyond 30m high – dominate the top canopy of the forest, while a middle canopy consists of an ever-dwindling population of prized hardwoods, including teak, padauk (sometimes called 'Asian rosewood') and mahogany. Underneath there's a variety of smaller trees, shrubs, grasses and, along river habitats, bamboo. In certain plateau areas of the south, there are dry dipterocarp forests in which the forest canopies are more open, with less of a middle layer and more of a grass-and-bamboo undergrowth. Parts of the Annamite Chain that receive rain from both the southwestern monsoon as well as the South China Sea are covered by tropical montane evergreen forest, while tropical pine forests can be found on the Nakai Plateau and Sekong area to the south.
In addition to the glamour hardwoods, the country's flora includes a toothsome array of fruit trees, bamboo (more species than any country outside Thailand and China) and an abundance of flowering species such as the orchid. However, in some parts of the country orchids are being stripped out of forests (often in protected areas) for sale to Thai tourists; look for the markets near the waterfalls of the Bolaven Plateau to see them. In the high plateaus of the Annamite Chain, extensive grasslands or savannahs are common.
Laos boasts one of the youngest and most comprehensive protected-area systems in the world. In 1993 the government set up 18 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas, comprising a total of 24,600 sq km, or just over 10% of the country's land mass. Most significantly, it did this following sound scientific consultation rather than creating areas on an ad hoc basis (as most other countries have done). Two more were added in 1995, for a total of 20 protected areas covering 14% of Laos. A further 4% of Laos is reserved as Provincial Protected Areas, making Laos one of the most protected countries on earth.
The areas were renamed national protected areas (NPAs) a few years ago. And while the naming semantics might seem trivial, they do reflect some important differences. The main one is that an NPA has local communities living within its boundaries, unlike a national park, where only rangers and those working in the park are allowed to live and where traditional activities such as hunting and logging are banned. Indeed, forests in NPAs are divided into production forests for timber, protection forests for watershed and conservation forests for pure conservation.
The largest protected areas are in southern Laos, which, contrary to popular myth, bears a higher percentage of natural forest cover than the north. Nakai-Nam Theun, the largest of the NPAs, covers 3710 sq km and is home to the recently discovered spindlehorn, as well as several other species unknown to the scientific world until not that long ago.
While several NPAs remain difficult to access without mounting a full-scale expedition, several others have become much easier to reach in recent years. The best way in is usually by foot.
The wildlife in these areas, from rare birds to wild elephants, is relatively abundant. The best time to view wildlife in most of the country is just after the monsoon in November. However, even at these times you'll be lucky to see very much. There are several reasons for this, the most important of which is that ongoing hunting means numbers of wild animals are reduced and those living are instinctively scared of humans. It's also difficult to see animals in forest cover at the best of times, and many animals are nocturnal. Teaming up with a recommended outfit will increase your chances of seeing wildlife.
Flying over Laos it's easy to think that much of the country is blanketed with untouched wilderness. But first impressions can be deceiving. What that lumpy carpet of green conceals is an environment facing several interrelated threats.
For the most part they're issues of the bottom line. Hunting endangers all sorts of creatures of the forest but it persists because the hunters can't afford to buy meat from the market. Forests are logged at unsustainable rates because the timber found in Laos is hugely valuable and loggers see more profit in cutting than not. And hydropower projects affect river systems and their dependent ecologies, including the forests, because Laos needs the money hydroelectricity can bring, and it's relatively cheap and easy for energy companies to develop in Laos.
Laws do exist to protect wildlife and plenty of Laos is protected as National Protected Areas (NPAs). But most Laotians are completely unaware of global conservation issues and there is little will and less money to pay for conservation projects, such as organised park rangers, or to prosecute offenders. Lack of communication between national and local governments and poor definitions of authority in conservation areas just add to the issues.
One of the biggest obstacles facing environmental protection in Laos is corruption (Laos being ranked 139 out of 168 nations in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2015). Fortunately, with the support of several dedicated individuals and NGOs, ecotourism is growing to the point where some local communities are beginning to understand – and buying into – the idea that an intact environment can be worth more money than an exhausted one.
One long-standing environmental problem has been the unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminating parts of eastern Laos where the Ho Chi Minh Trail ran during the Second Indochina War. Bombs are being found and defused at a painstakingly slow rate; however, on his 2016 visit former US President Obama pledged US$90m over a three-year period to speed up the process.
The major challenges facing Laos' environment are, therefore, the internal pressures of economic growth as well as external pressures from the country's more populated and affluent neighbours, particularly China, Vietnam and Thailand, who all benefit from Laos' abundant resources, be it hardwood, copper or hydroelectric power.
For millenniums the Mekong River has been the lifeblood of Laos and the wider Mekong region. It's the region's primary artery, and about 60 million people depend on the rich fisheries and other resources provided by the river and its tributaries. The Mekong is the world's 12th-longest river and 10th largest in terms of volume. But unlike other major rivers, a series of rapids have prevented it from developing into a major transport and cargo thoroughfare, or as a base for large industrial cities.
When the Nam Theun 2 dam in Khammuan Province was approved by the World Bank in 2005, it was the equivalent of opening hydropower's Pandora's box. Since then hydropower has become an important contributor to Laos’ economic growth. Six big dams are already in operation, seven are currently under construction, at least 12 more are planned, and development deals ready to go on another 35.
According to a BBC report, the $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam (funded by Thailand) will block critical fish migration routes for between 23 and 100 species, among them the Mekong giant catfish. Meanwhile in southern Laos, work has begun near Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands) on the Malaysian-financed $300 million Don Sahong dam, despite massive protest from Cambodian fishermen and the WWF, who argue it will devastate the small population of Irrawaddy dolphin that resides in a deep-water pool close by.
The negative impacts associated with these dams have so far included forced displacement of local communities and the uprooting of their traditional riverine culture, flooding upstream areas, reduced sediment flows, and increased erosion downstream with resulting issues for fish stocks and those who work the rivers. Less immediately visible, but with a potentially much greater influence in the long term, are the changes these dams will have on the Mekong's flood pulse, especially the Tonlé Sap Lake in Cambodia, which is critical to the fish spawning cycle, and thus the food source of millions of people.
However, hydropower is a relatively clean source of energy and to a certain extent dams in Laos are inevitable. Hydropower dams have also become a major contributor to Laos' economic growth and so it's no great surprise that plans have pushed ahead for more to be built across the country.
More information can be found online, including through the Mekong River Commission (www.mrcmekong.org), which oversees the dam developments; Save the Mekong Coalition (www.savethemekong.org); and the WWF (www.panda.org).
In 2016 the new president of Laos banned the export of timber and logs, throwing long-established illegal smuggling operations into panic. Since the ban, truckloads of hardwood have been seized from forest hideouts and sawmills across the country. In 2015 Radio Free Asia exposed a Lao politburo member's son as a smuggling kingpin of hardwood trees across the border into China via Mohan, and it's widely alleged that illegal logging has been clandestinely run by elements of the Lao Army, such as in Khammuan Province and remote areas of the country's far south.
The national electricity-generating company also profits from the timber sales each time it links a Lao town or village with the national power grid, as it clear-cuts along Lao highways. Large-scale plantations and mining, as well as swidden (slash-and-burn) methods of cultivation, are also leading to habitat loss. This can have a knock-on effect in rural communities: in some rural areas 70% of non-rice foods come from the forest.
The current president has pledged to recover forest levels to 70% by 2020 or resign. It remains to be seen how successful the government will be in carrying out this pledge.
The majority of Lao citizens derive most of their protein from food culled from nature, not from farms or ranches. How threatening traditional hunting habits are to species survival in Laos is debatable given the nation's extremely sparse population. But, combined with habitat loss, hunting for food is placing increasing pressure on wildlife numbers.
The cross-border trade in wildlife is also potentially serious. Much of the poaching that takes place in Laos' NPAs is allegedly carried out by Vietnamese hunters who have crossed into central Laos illegally to round up species such as pangolins, civets, barking deer, goral and raccoon dogs to sell back home. These animals are highly valued for both food and medicinal purposes in Vietnam, Thailand and China, and as the demand in those countries grows in line with increasing wealth, so too do the prices buyers are prepared to pay.
Foreign NGOs run grass-roots education campaigns across Laos in an effort to raise awareness of endangered species and the effects of hunting on local ecosystems. But, as usual, money is the key to breaking the cycle. And while hunters remain dirt poor, the problem seems here to stay.
In more densely populated areas such as Savannakhet and Champasak Provinces, the overfishing of lakes and rivers poses a danger to certain fish species. Projects to educate fishermen about exactly where their catch comes from, and how to protect that source, have been successful in changing some unsustainable practices. One area given particular attention is fishing using explosives. This practice, whereby fishermen throw explosives into the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the surface, is incredibly destructive. Most fishermen don't realise that for every dead fish they collect from the surface, another two or three lie dead on the riverbed. The practice is illegal in Laos, and anecdotal evidence suggests education and the law have reduced the problem.
With forests covering about half of the country, 20 National Protected Areas (NPAs), 49 ethnic groups, over 650 bird species and hundreds of mammals, Laos has some of Southeast Asia's healthiest ecosystems.
Following the success of the Nam Ha Ecotourism Project in Luang Namtha Province, which began in 1999, the ecotourism industry has grown using a sustainable, internationally developed blueprint which seeks to protect and preserve the interests of ethnic people, wildlife and forests.
Many tour companies in Laos have endured since the inception of ecotourism because they have honoured their pledges to local tribes and conservation. Before splashing out on a trek ask the following questions:
AAre you in a small group that will not disturb village life?
AWill you be led by a local guide?
AWill your trip directly benefit local people whose forests/village you are passing through?
ADoes the company channel some of its profits into conservation or local education charities, or is it directly affiliated with organisations such as the WWF and the WCS?
See www.ecotourismlaos.com for further information on environmentally sustainable tourism in Laos.