Deal #8058

Civitas, a research and consulting firm based in Laos, supported the development of Standard Operating Procedures for community engagement of Burapha’s plans to expand forested land in 14 villages in Laos. [Source: Civitas Website]

Commodification of land lead to local landgrabs (elite capture) resulting in intra- and inter-community conflicts. Communities perceive that payments are often flowing to district and higher authorities while the local population receives but a small compensation. Those who are not able to pay the land tax (and there are many) are the first to lose their land. Specific to the latest approach to focus on production forest areas: It is the already destitute people who have their farms on state land. When an investor takes this land because on paper it is not used (but in reality is), these people lose their livelihood entirely and receive only a purely symbolic compensation (80,000 LAK/ha/once paid to the community). If villagers do not agree, Burapha will report to the district. The district authorities then urge the villagers to agree because it is not their land, but state land. [Source: stakeholder interviews 2023] In 2014, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said that the way the company contracted local people to plant the trees on state land, notably on conservation forest, contravenes relevant laws (it expanded over the land use rights had been granted to the company). The company has established Grievance Management where local communities can address or resolve conflicts/problems. This grievance management is posted on Village Notice Boards (in each village the company works with) [Source: Company Annual Report 2019].

The project is considered to be a medium high risk, category B+ project, based on general limited potential adverse social or environmental impacts that are mainly site specific and can be mitigated by normal industry practices. Based on the community's visit, some local communities said that since the plantation has operated, they noticed the change of river, less water (sometimes not enough to use within the community). They said this type of plantation also has impacts on access to Non Timber Forest Products (there are less and less now). Burapha has completed robust Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Management and Monitoring Plans (ESMMP) for both its Agroforestry Operations and Plywood Mill. However, those documents have not been made available in the public yet. [ Source: Finnfund (2020)]

The company contributes to Village Development Funds (VDF), Khum Development Funds and District Development Funds. Burapha Agroforestry grants a VDF at US $ 350/ha, which in this case respondents reported to not have received, based on technical report ‘Social Outcomes from Tree Plantations Development in Central and Southern Lao PDR: Evidence from 6 Villages’ by Keith Barney, Alex van Der Meer Simo, Thu Ba Huynh and Peter Kanowski, in June 2018. [Source: Barney et al., 2018]

The company has incrementally expanded plantation lease areas, with more than 4,000 ha planted as of 2019. Associated infrastructure has expanded with an operational sawmill, a nursery capable of supporting expanding operations, and a plywood mill under construction. It also has provided labour opportunities to over thousand Lao people in rural areas every year and have trained many for advancement to skilled labour positions. The company assesses each new plantation to determine the potential risks from UXO contamination (In 2019 this process identified potential UXO contamination in the area of Nam Phak plantation, Ban Xor village) [Source: Company Annual Report 2019]. Commercial tree plantations (by Burapha Company) were the largest source of annual income in Hinheub village, Vientiane province where households earned $3,820 on average. [Source: Barney et al., 2018] Some affected villages received an electricity grid connection through the company. [Source: stakeholder interviews, 2023]

Over the course of 2019 and into 2020, the company also works with RECOFTC, an INGO, to develop advanced approaches to strengthen the capacities of forest dependent community-based enterprises [Source: Company Annual Report 2019].