Concessions and Leases in the Lao PDR

Land Categories and Site Surveys
There remains a significant gap between land use planningbased
restrictions on land investment and practices in granting
land for investment. A number of concessions have been
granted on land were the activities planned actually violate
land use regulations. In several cases, disregarding existing
laws and regulations, land deals have been approved for areas
such as dense forest and watershed protection areas violating
the Forestry Law of 2007 43.
Case Study 3: A concession area was granted to the Ra-farm
Development Company, Ltd. (a Chinese investor) in Ban
Houay-pamak village, Med District in Vientiane Province. 100
ha were granted to the company by the provincial governor
in 2008 as a concession for cultivating corn, green beans and
dragon fruit for 15 years. Unfortunately, an inventory team
only later observed that the land allocated to the company
was originally healthy forest, and large trees growing on the
land were cut or burned. Villagers said that they had used this
forest beforehand for NTFP and timber collection and that it
contained considerable amount of large older trees (mai du,
mai tae) (see Picture A1).
Case Study 4: For many project sites, land surveys, a feasibility
study and to a certain extent some basic social and environmental
impact assessments are conducted. Many of the
resulting reports, however, are inaccurate or do not even
reflect the real state of lands being allocated for investment.
Such was the case of the Xeunhua Commerce Company, Ltd.,
which was granted a concession to plant rubber in Lomeu Village,
Sing District in Luangnamtha Province on an area of 300 ha.
The site survey report done by DAFO stated that the land
consisted solely of fallow forest (left after shifting cultivation,
2-7 years old), that no trees with economic value existed
within this area and that the company’s proposed activities
posed no environmental threat to the watershed. However,
after another inspection done by inventory team (consisting
of NLMA staff in collaboration with the PLMA), it was discovered
that the area consisted of some fallow forest as reported
within the DAFO report, but that the predominant land cover
was healthy secondary and “primary” forest (pa yai, pa kae).
According to the village head, villagers have not used the area
for shifting cultivation and upland rice production in more
than ten years.
Case Study 5: Phongsapthavy Road-Bridge Construction
Company, Ltd. was granted 500 ha in Houayteui Village of
Xayabury District for rubber cultivation. Despite being granted
500 ha, only 345 ha were actually allocated in the end, as a full
500 ha were not available. Even then, those 345 ha encroached
upon village production land (primarily rice paddies and fish
ponds) which has been used for more than a decade already.
The contract between the company and the relevant government
authorities was prepared by the provincial Planning and Investment
Department, apparently without a prior site survey and
land zoning.
Picture A1: Concession area of Ra-farm Development Company, Ltd. in Ban Houay-pamak
43 Articles 74, 75, and 76 of the Forestry Law of 2007 stipulate that “industrial tree plantations must be carried out on degraded forest and defoliated land”.
84 Concessions and Leases in the Lao PDR: Taking Stock of Land Investments