(Vientiane Times) Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong yesterday called on people of all ethnic groups to plant trees so that Laos will once more be green, clean and beautiful.

“One person should grow one tree per year, and take good care of it so that it grows,” he said.

The prime minister delivered his message to mark World Environment Day on June 5.

Forests around the world are under threat from humans for many reasons, including burning and various forms of damage, with forest cover declining by about 14 million hectares per year.

It is the same situation in Laos where in 1970; forests covered about 70 percent of the total land area, but now only 40 percent of the country is forested.

Concerns are growing in Laos about wildlife populations and cereal grains, as forests are shrinking daily.

The nation’s dwindling forests are the main negative impact on socio-economic development and the environment, Mr Thongsing said.

The prime minister also noted that deforestation and degradation directly affect poor people who depend on forests for their livelihood.

The main reasons for deforestation are the conversion of forests into agricultural land for food production, logging, construction, urban development, and mining and other projects.

The environment is suffering as a consequence of these activities. “Temperatures in the world are rising every day,” he said, adding that global warming is causing climate changes and a surge in natural disasters around the world.

Natural disasters can have major impacts on the social and economic welfare of a population, and are often a serious obstacle to achieving sustainable development.

Following serious flooding in 2008 in Laos and Typhoon Ketsana in 2009, the Lao government has decided to set up an early warning system and raise public awareness of extreme weather events.

Ketsana affected more than 180,000 people, causing great damage and loss with consequences that have gravely set back economic development and jeopardised the already precarious situation

of some of the districts hit.

To prevent such problems in the future, the government has drawn up strategies, laws and various regulations to help preserve the environment and water sources, Mr Thongsing said.

The government plans to increase national forest cover to 65 percent by 2015 and 70 percent by 2020.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says Laos has undergone widespread deforestation, with forest cover falling from 64 percent in 1960, to 47.2 percent in 1992, and 41 percent in 2001.