On 31 May, villagers at Ban Khounphet in Khammouane province, together with staff from the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) and Khounkham district authority, planted 2,000 trees to mark National Plantation Day and World Environment Day.
THPC provided the saplings, which included fruit, ornamental and industrial species. Each family received saplings to plant in around house plots while volunteers planted trees in public areas such as the village school, temple, office and health centre. THPC staff also provided advice on how to correctly plant and care for the young trees.
Ahead of the activity Mr Soulideth Baomanikhoth, Deputy General Manager of THPC, said that “planting trees today will increase abundance for the community in the future, providing shade, fruit, and other resources while helping to keep the green character of the natural environment around the village”.
Khounphet is one of nine relocation villages built by THPC as compensation for longer annual flood periods following construction of the Theun-Hinboun hydropower expansion project, inaugurated in 2013. The project increase the amount of water in the Hai and Hinboun rivers, which can intensify natural flood cycles. Khounphet was the last relocation village built, providing new houses, public facilities and agricultural land on flood-safe ground. People from Thonglom, Nakhok and Fangdeng villages moved to the new site in 2016-17.