Consultation > Par auteur > Gadella Rik

The Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden currently under construction in Luang Prabang is the first botanical garden in Lao PDR and will open to the general public in 2018. The garden will showcase the Flora of Laos and the region with a strong emphasis on ethno-botany. But a botanical garden is not just a collection of pretty flowers and it is our goal to implement educational programs in and ex situ, on agriculture, biodiversity and eco-tourism for children, students, farmers, NGO and government staff. Almost 80% of the Lao population lives from sustenance farming in difficult mountainous situations and it is our conviction that sustainable organic farming is only achievable through an approach that will take into account the living conditions of these farmers and their cultural background. Biodiversity conservation with a real impact can only be achieved altogether with these farmers and by providing them with real economic incentives to stop slash and burn and to halt the large-scale monoculture plantations of Chinese corporations. We will install at Pha Tad Ke demonstration plots for agro-forestry and permaculture that will host training programs for farmers, tourists, NGO and government staff side by side to stimulate new ideas and collaborations and to show and address the problems that Lao farmers and their families have to confront every day.