(KPL) A signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the “Forest Development Village” project was held on January 22, 2026, at Supattra Hotel in Vientiane Capital.

The MoU was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, represented by the Department of Forestry, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Lao PDR.

The signatories were Mr. Somvang Phommavong, Head of the Department of Forestry, and Mr. Santi Saipanya, Head of WCS Lao PDR.

The ceremony was attended by Mr. Bounvisay Kongpaly, Vice Chairman of the Houaphan Provincial Administrative Committee, Mr. Marc Carle, Ambassador of the European Union to Lao PDR, and representatives of relevant agencies.

In his remarks, Mr. Somvang Phommavong noted that forest loss in Lao PDR has remained high over the past decade. According to studies under the EU-REDD programme, national forest conditions show a high level of degradation. Data from the National Forest Survey (2018) indicate that between 2005 and 2015 forest cover declined by 4.2% in production forests, 3.3% in protection forests, and 1.8% in conservation forests. Overall forest cover decreased by an average of 0.36% per year, from 60.9% in 2000 to 58% in 2015.

He said the main causes include agricultural expansion, land encroachment for development projects, unsustainable logging, shifting cultivation, and unsustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products.

Mr. Somvang further stated that WCS, as a long-standing partner of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, has continued to mobilize financial support from various sources, including €1.6 million from the European Union for the “Forest Development Village” project.

The project builds on the ECILL project and aims to strengthen social networks to enable direct participation in conservation forest management, biodiversity conservation, and forest ecosystem protection. It will be implemented in Nam Et–Phou Louey National Park, Bolikhamxay Province, and Savannakhet Province.

The project will be jointly implemented by the Department of Forestry and WCS Lao PDR, in cooperation with relevant local authorities. The implementation period runs from the project approval date until June 30, 2028.

The project has three interconnected objectives:

strengthening the role of social organizations in forest and natural resource management through “Forest Development Village” networks;

improving participatory conservation forest management by building the capacity of village-level social networks; and

enabling social organizations to contribute to policy development on land tenure, natural resources, forest management, and conservation forests.

Under the project, local communities will play an active role in managing forests, wildlife, and natural resources in coordination with conservation forest management units, in line with national forestry policies, the Forestry Law, and the Conservation Forest Decree No. 219/GoL dated June 20, 2023.

KPL