Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Lao PDR
In Lao PDR , tree growing is traditionally being practiced in rice-based swidden
systems in upland areas home to multiple ethnic minority groups and in homegar-
den systems (with a variety of fruit and vegetable trees) typically of a more rudi-
mentary form in areas still rich in forest resources and a more developed form in
areas where forest resources are (becoming) scarce (Bounthong et al. 2006). In
addition to these most common practices, other traditional systems exist including
hedges of woody species around agricultural fields (living fences), multistory tree
gardens, orchards and plantations, taungya for forest regeneration along river banks
in the North and in upland areas, and economically improved fallows (e.g., integra-
tion of mulberry or Broussonetia papyrifera , cardamom or Amomum spp. and ben-
zoin or Styrax benzoides ; Hansen and Sodarak 1996). Efforts by the Lao government
to stop or at least stabilize shifting cultivation have been directed at improvement
of swidden systems or facilitation of alternative systems such alley cropping and
contour hedgerows using woody species (Hansen and Sodarak 1996). Likewise
efforts have been made to implement sustainable forest management on sloping
land and in state-owned production forests since the early 1990s. One such initia-
tive was the Lao-Swedish Forestry Programme (LSFP) in 1992-2000 under which
villagers participated in production forest management, referred to as Joint Forest
Management, in an area of 9,500 ha in the Savannakhet Province (Phanthanousy
and Sayakoummane 2005). Natural forests and forestlands all belong to the national
community represented by the State in the management and allocation of these
resources for rational use by individuals and organizations as stipulated by in the
Forestry Law 125 of 11 October 1996. Another initiative concerned the launching
of a Forest Management and Conservation Programme (FOMACOP), a national
programme implemented by the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry in 1993, with a Forest Management Sub-Programme
(FMSP) focusing on “village forestry” (Fujita et al. 2005). The programme started
its field activities in two central provinces of Laos, with local communities leading
the management of production forests of 260,000ha in total through so-called
Village Forest Associations in partnership with district and provincial foresters.
Under the FMSP, villagers gradually organized themselves and collectively designed
and implemented sustainable forest management plans and associated rules.
FOMACOP terminated in 2001 and was followed by a project on Sustainable
Forestry for Rural Development Project (SUFORD). The latter, covering four prov-
inces but eventually aiming at nation-wide coverage, elaborated on two key aspects
of the previous programme, i.e., participatory forest management and training and
capacity building. The project further included more components, such as sector-
wise policy reform, whereas village development became an integral part of project
design and implementation. The concepts of village forestry and community-based
management of production forests are also integrated in the government's Forestry
Strategy to the Year 2020 of the Lao PDR (MAF 2005). The government issued a
PM Decree No. 59/2002 on sustainabale management of production in May 2002
(Phanthanousy and Sayakoummane 2005). The Ministry of Agriculture and
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