Project News

The third National Forest Inventory (NFI)^[1] — a nationwide forestry survey — was launched in January 2019. The results will be used to estimate the forest carbon stock in Lao forests. The survey is being carried out using the methodology developed for the second NFI, also supported by F-REDD.

Besides understanding the state of forest carbon stock, another important purpose of this survey is to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from selective logging by measuring tree stumps. Persistent illegal logging in Laos (which at most times is selective logging) is the main source of a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. As current satellite-based remote sensing technology does not allow for the effective identification of such emissions, Laos has been using tree stump measurement as an alternative method.

Laos plans to produce its first MRV report by the end of 2019. From the provisional results of the tree stump survey, as of the end of March 2019 we are already seeing a certain amount of emissions reduction. This seems to reflect the effects of an order issued by the Prime Minister in 2016, which ensures timber legality and prohibits the export of wood products that have not been fully processed, including logs and sawn wood.