Assessing Forest Governance in Lao PDR

Lao PDR is facing numerous challenges as well as opportunities regarding the governance of its forests. This is particularly important considering the countrys high levels of forest cover, rural poverty, and biodiversity. Governance is a sensitive topic in the country, adding to the challenges facing the forest sector. However, the Lao government is working to improve forest governance, as outlined in the Forest Strategy 2020 and the revisions to the 2007 Forest Law, ongoing at the time of writing. RECOFTC The Center for People and Forests, working with civil society partners as part of the European Union-funded Voices for the Mekong Forests (V4MF) project, is seeking to better understand the governance challenges and opportunities in Lao PDRs forestry sector, as well as putting forward a programme to address these through the empowerment of non-state actors (NSAs). To this end, a participatory forest governance assessment was carried out in late 2017 and early 2018. The participants in the research, including from government, civil society, and local communities felt that the policies and legislation in place provided a strong foundation; however, systematic issues in the implementation, enforcement and compliance undermined the state of the forests in the country. The recommendations outlined in this brief include a need to improve the monitoring of forest landscape governance, and to strengthen the knowledge and skills of civil society on technical issues. The project partners will work with various stakeholders, particularly civil society, to implement a programme to address the challenges and opportunities identified.