Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) In mid-January 2026, the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Environment officially issued a special notice to comprehensively upgrade nationwide forest fire prevention and air pollution control efforts in response to the expected high incidence of forest fires from January to April and the resulting PM2.5 pollution. Multiple departments are working together to strengthen ecological security and public health.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment pointed out that the high incidence of forest fires during this period each year is mainly caused by uncontrolled burning (clearing farmland, gardens, rice paddies, and burning pasture), concentrated burning, lack of firebreaks, and hunting burning. These behaviors directly lead to increased smog and a surge in PM2.5 and other fine particulate matter concentrations, seriously threatening public health and daily life. Therefore, systematic prevention and control measures are urgently needed.
According to the notice, relevant central and local departments must clarify their responsibilities and work together: I. Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism: The forestry departments and agricultural and environmental departments of each province and Vientiane City must take the lead in coordinating relevant departments, organizing professional training, strengthening the application of fire hotspot monitoring systems, and strictly preventing the spread of forest fires; at the local level, they must compile forest fire impact reports on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis, and draw fire risk maps to provide data support for budget planning and the formulation of preventive measures. II. Publicity and Special Working Groups: Through diverse media channels such as the internet, videos, posters, radio, and television, regularly inform the public, public officials, and military and police groups about the dynamics of forest and farmland fires; the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will lead the establishment of a special technical committee to coordinate the monitoring, prevention, and control of air pollution sources (including smog) during the 2025-2026 monitoring period. III. Funding and Legislative Guarantees: The Office of the Environmental and Forestry Protection Fund is tasked with researching and allocating a special budget to support the implementation of the annual air pollution prevention and control action plan; the Department of Environment, as the coordinating core, will work with relevant central and local units to promote the implementation and improvement of legislation related to air pollution source control, and formulate new regulations in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Law to address pollution issues in agriculture, the environment, and other fields. IV. Specific Prevention and Control Measures Promote the construction of temporary and permanent firebreaks and scientific combustion control technologies; the Natural Resources and Environment Surveillance Department and the Forestry Department, in coordination with relevant committees, must supervise the implementation of Prime Minister's Decree No. 11/PM of July 21, 2023, in all provinces and Vientiane City, focusing on forest fire and PM2.5 dust control; the Forestry Department must formulate short- and long-term forest fire prevention plans for the Lao People's Democratic Republic, and build a systematic, unified, efficient, and timely prevention and control system, providing an important basis for securing domestic and international funding and support; the Provincial and Vientiane City Departments of Agriculture and Environment, as the core local coordinating agencies, must work with provincial, county, and village-level departments to investigate illegal activities in forest land (including encroachment, sale and purchase of forest land, and unauthorized operations), and legally stop, demolish, and severely punish illegal activities; at the same time, they are responsible for stopping indiscriminate burning, promptly extinguishing forest fires in their jurisdictions, and strictly preventing the spread of fires. In addition, the provincial and Vientiane municipal departments of agriculture and environment should collaborate with the local disaster management committees to prioritize forest fire and PM2.5 pollution control as national disaster response priorities, apply for special budgets, equip themselves with necessary control equipment, maintain a state of constant readiness, and do everything possible to protect the ecological environment and the safety of people's lives and property. (End)
