Bushfires destroy 100,000 hectares of forests
More than 100,000 hectares of forests in Luang Namtha province were destroyed by bushfires that raged for more than a month, officials have said.
The Director of the Agriculture and Forestry Department of Luang Namtha, Mr Phimkeo Thamlasing, told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that the fires spread from the end of January to mid-March.
“According to initial reports, the bushfires destroyed 116,678 hectares of forests in Namha National Protected Area and other protected forests. The fires affected the five districts of Luang Namtha, Sing, Long, Nalae and Viengphoukha,” he said.
The authorities faced difficulties in accessing some of the areas in the mountains, and most of the areas devastated by the fires were very dry and covered by bamboo groves.
