The Nam Et National Protected Area
The National Park covers around six thousand square kilometres – of which half are under special protection, and the other half serves as a buffer zone.
Some of the small villages within the National Park come under this Special Protection clause, and thus qualify for subsidies from the government – but even so, poaching still goes on. A large number of different wild animals live in the park, and there are triggered photo-traps to catch a fleeting picture of them. There’s a lodge for tourists, which only operates for organised tours – every tour group is accompanied by special local guides, recruited from the local villages. The only way into the centre of the park is by boat – going upstream by river.
A huntsman watches from a tree, as boats float by on the river
Some of the local hunters have turned gamekeeper – and now work showing tourists the habitats of the animals
Nature reserve at sunset.
A boat plies its way silently along the river by night, on a night wildlifespotting trip – the animals in the park might be seen by spotlight.
Large numbers of butterflies, bees, ants and other insects gather along the riverbanks – where natural salt oozes from the sand
The bamboo that grows here in the region has a two-year life-cycle. At that point all of the bamboo stems die off – and for the only time in their life-cycle, produce seeds. The seeds will grow into a new crop of young bamboo in the following season – and then it all repeats once more.
A trek through thickets of dry bamboo
The majority of the park rangers are from Khmu villages. The Khmu have a favourite tradition of drinking rice wine. Two people drink the wine through straws, from a jug that’s been topped-up with rice – while a third person tops the jug up with water. Then other couples follow, until the mixture in the jug is not alcoholic at all. For the park rangers, taking a tour group is almost a holiday too – it will probably be another few months before they are on duty with tourists again.
Each tour group is also accompanied by an employee from the Park Office, who works as their guide and interpreter. They also give a lot of the time over to the local villagers, explaining the significance of the park and the need to conserve local wildlife. This seems to be one of their main duties. At the end of the trip, each tourist ticks-off the different species they saw during their stay – and the guides get a small bonus for each of the species seen.
The national program for protection of the ecosphere in Laos has won recognition all over the world. It has involved the creation of 20 national national nature reserves, which account for 14% of land in the entire country. Even though it has not been possible to put an end to poaching of rare species, there’s a complete and effective ban in these specially-protected areas, along with a ban on burning forest – thus protecting the biodiversity of these areas.
