Flying over Laos it's easy to think that the great majority of the country is blanketed with vast tracts of untouched wilderness. And while Laos does indeed have one of the most pristine ecologies in Asia, first impressions can be deceiving. What that lumpy carpet of green conceals is an environment facing several interrelated threats.

For the most part they're issues of the bottom line. Hunting endangers all sorts of creatures of the forest but it persists because the hunters can't afford to buy meat from the market. Forests are logged at unsustainable rates because the timber found in Laos is valuable and loggers see more profit in cutting than not. And hydropower projects affect river systems and their dependent ecologies - including the forests - because Laos needs the money hydroelectricity can bring, and it's relatively cheap and easy for energy companies to develop in Laos. Laws do exist to protect wildlife and, as mentioned, plenty of Laos is protected as NPAs. But most Laotians are completely unaware of world conservation issues and there is little will and less money to pay for conser­vation projects, such as organised park rangers, or to prosecute offenders. Lack of communication between national and local governments and poor definitions of authority in conservation areas just add to the issues. One of the biggest obstacles facing environmental protection in Laos is corruption among those in charge of enforcing conservation regulations. Illegal timber felling, poaching and the smuggling of exotic wildlife species would decrease sharply if corruption among officials was properly tackled.

However, there is some good news. With the support of several dedicated individuals and NGOs, ecotourism is growing to the point where some local communities are beginning to understand -and buying into - the idea that an intact environment can be worth money. Added to that, the government has mainly avoided giving contracts to com­panies wanting to develop large-scale resorts; though the same can't be said for many non-tourism projects. Air pollution and carbon emissions are about as low as you'll find anywhere in the region because most Lao still live at or just above subsistence level and there is little heavy industry. Laos has one of the lowest per capita energy-consumption rates in the world.

One long-standing environmental problem has been the unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminating parts of eastern Laos where the Ho Chi Minh Trail ran during the Second Indochina War. Bombs are being found and defused at a painstakingly slow rate, but progress is being made.

Thus the major challenges facing Laos's environment are the internal pressures of economic growth and external pressures from the countries more populated and affluent neighbors - particularly China, Vietnam and Thailand - who would like to exploit Laos's abundant resources as much as possible.