摘要：The forests of Lao PDR have dramatically diminished in recent decades. The main drivers ofdeforestation are changes in land use with forests being converted to agriculture, hydropower, mining andplantations. The main drivers of degradation are legal and illegal logging, especially salvage logging andpioneering shifting cultivation. Underlying drivers are poverty, weak governance and corruption, poor lawenforcement and limited capacities as well as unclear, often contradictory legislation and the internationaldemand for timber, rubber, food, electricity and minerals. The situation regarding forest governance,however, seems to slightly improve starting in early 2016. After years of little or no progress in terms ofREDD+ the country prepared a proposal to receive performance-based payments which has been acceptedinto the FCPF Carbon Fund. Lao PDR also entered into the EU-FLEGT negotiations. A new government,which has been in office since early 2016, is increasingly trying to combat illegal logging and timber exports
