Laos advances best-practice standards to align development and conservation at Nakai–Nam Theun National Park

Government, financing institutions and development partners agree on common environmental and social safeguards as the park advances toward international recognition

The Lao government has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that investment and infrastructure development in and around Nakai–Nam Theun National Park proceeds in line with national law and international good practice.
This reaffirmation came at a meeting convened in Vientiane on August 5, 2026 by the Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
The meeting brought together senior representatives from central and provincial government agencies, district authorities from Khammuan and Bolikhamxay provinces, the Nakai–Nam Theun National Park Management Office, the Nam Theun 2 Power Company, and international financing institutions and development partners. These included the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Chaired by the Director General of the Department of Forestry, the meeting agreed on practical measures to ensure that development projects in and around the park — in sectors such as mining, natural tea harvesting and processing, and strategic infrastructure — are planned and implemented according to recognised environmental and social standards.
Participants affirmed that biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, sustainable infrastructure development, climate resilience, national security and sustainable economic growth are complementary objectives that can be advanced together through integrated planning and the application of internationally recognised safeguards. The Lao government does not view these priorities as competing interests, but as mutually reinforcing pillars of national development that require coordinated governance, transparent decision-making and evidence-based assessment.
Nakai–Nam Theun is one of the largest remaining intact forest landscapes of the Annamite range, along the Lao–Vietnamese border. Covering 427,770 hectares, the park provides habitat for globally significant species including the Asian elephant, the Asian swamp cypress and the wolf barb among many other endangered species. It sustains the watershed that feeds the Nam Theun 2 reservoir and its downstream benefits; and it is home to ethnic communities whose livelihoods and cultural heritage are bound to the forest. Its resident population of 8,979 people (4,437 women) in 1,854 households is distributed across 15 villages within three sub-districts: Na Vang, Tha Phai Ban and Teung. These communities have lacked access to all-season roads, electricity, and adequate basic public services for generations, dating back to the time of their ancestors. The government recognises that improving their livelihoods is a legitimate and urgent priority, to be achieved through environmentally responsible planning that respects the park’s conservation values and ensures their equitable participation in decision-making.
Elevated to National Park status in 2019, the area is identified under the National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2026–2030 as a candidate for UNESCO Natural World Heritage inscription. Parallel processes are underway for nomination as an ASEAN Heritage Park and for accreditation under the IUCN Green List, the global standard for effective, equitable and well-governed protected areas.
Carefully planned development, sound science, adaptive management, independent review, cumulative impact assessment and effective governance are fully compatible with protecting the area’s Outstanding Universal Value and ecological integrity.
World Heritage recognition does not prevent sustainable development; rather, it reinforces the application of best-practice safeguards that enable development to proceed responsibly.
Participants agreed on cross-cutting principles for projects affecting the national park and other high-biodiversity forests. Under recent government directions on the management of the park, the Department of Forestry will work with relevant government departments, project developers and other stakeholders to put in place the necessary measures for the projects under review.
These include independent environmental and social audits and impact assessments carried out by experienced and professional firms and consultants, covering the review of existing assessment findings, gap analysis, mitigation measures, and environmental and social management plans, as well as independent review of these processes involving international financing institutions and development partners — aligning national procedures with international lender frameworks such as the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards.
The meeting endorsed the structure and role of a standing coordination body under the Department of Forestry, to be established, and supported work with relevant ministries toward a national impact-mitigation mechanism applicable beyond the park itself.
The approach draws directly on more than two decades of experience from the Nam Theun 2 project, an internationally recognised model demonstrating that hydropower development, biodiversity conservation, watershed management, community development, government revenue generation, international financing, environmental safeguards and institutional strengthening can be integrated successfully.
The project established that large-scale infrastructure could proceed in harmony with protected-area management when internationally recognised safeguard standards are applied from the outset, including independent environmental and social assessment, mitigation planning and long-term adaptive management. Those lessons continue to inform adaptive management and steady improvement across the protected area system.
Nakai–Nam Theun National Park can become an international model demonstrating that conservation, national development, community welfare, biodiversity protection, climate resilience and sustainable economic growth can be achieved together when guided by science, transparent governance and internationally recognised environmental and social standards.
The government of Laos, together with its development partners, remains committed to realising this vision through continued collaboration, adaptive management and shared accountability.
“Nakai–Nam Theun National Park demonstrates that conservation and development are complementary objectives,” said Director General of the Department of Forestry, Assoc. Prof. Dr Somvang Phimmavong.
“By improving local livelihoods through science-based decision-making, transparent governance and internationally recognised environmental and social safeguards, we can advance strategic infrastructure, biodiversity tourism and ecotourism, and other sustainable development opportunities while protecting the biodiversity and watersheds on which our national development depends.”
“Our aspiration for UNESCO World Heritage recognition is not only about conserving one of Southeast Asia’s most important forest landscapes—it is also about creating sustainable economic opportunities for local communities through responsible nature-based tourism that contributes to long-term conservation financing and inclusive green growth across the Lao PDR.”

By Advertorial Desk
 (Latest Update August 7, 2026)