VN, Laos join hands in curbing cross-border timber smuggling
Almost 100 Vietnamese and Lao representatives have attended a seminar on improving reserve area management and reducing illegal cross-border timber trade between Vietnam and Laos, in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.
Almost 100 Vietnamese and Lao representatives have attended a seminar onimproving reserve area management and reducing illegal cross-bordertimber trade between Vietnam and Laos, in the central province of ThuaThien-Hue.
The Dec. 6 seminar is part of the project “ Avoidance ofdeforestation and forest degradation in the border area of southern Laosand central Vietnam for the long-term preservation of carbon sinks andbiodiversity” that is being carried out by the World Wide Fund forNature (WWF) Greater Mekong in three reserve areas in Quang Nam andThua-Thien Hue provinces and Laos’ Xesap National Park.
At the seminar, participants shared experiences in managing protectedareas and discussed cooperation between Vietnam and Laos in protectionforest biodiversity and a trans-national action plan to preventdeforestation in the beneficiary region and stop the illegal trading oftimber.
Experts said high demand for wood in Vietnam and a laxmanagement of forests in Laos are the reasons of rising timber smugglingacross the border./.
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