Initiatives in Lao PDR:

In addition to caring for the bears at the rescue centre Free The Bears Fund has engaged in many other projects in Laos. These include:

• Improving the effectiveness of the response towards the illegal wildlife trade
• Providing support for confiscations of illegally poached and traded wildlife
• Increasing environmental awareness
• Improving knowledge of wild bear populations within Laos.

Increasing environmental awareness is of particular importance and one of our most recent projects is a nature discovery trail within Tat Kuang Si Park primarily aimed at local communities and school children. Through this we hope to highlight the threats to forests and wildlife and are working to support educational visits from local and international schools over the coming years.

We are also an active partner of The Lao Wildlife Trade Working Group which was formed to help protect and preserve Laos endangered wildlife. One of the first initiatives of the Working Group, the Campaign for Wildlife Conservation, was launched in late November 2009 to coincide with the 25th South East Asian Games in Vientiane.