THPC has worked closely with government agencies and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to create a management plan for the long-term rehabilitation of the area above the Nam Gnouang Reservoir. In 2008 Bolikhamxay Province issued a decree establishing the Nam Gnouang South Protected Forest Area, which is over 50 square km in size and includes much of the former village swidden land no longer used in the watershed area. In 2012 the boundaries of this new protected area were demarcated and surveys and information sessions carried out with people in the surrounding villages. THPC has also started a reforestation program along the edges of the reservoir, planting more than 111 hectares with local tree species. The aim is to rehabilitate the protected area so that local flora and fauna can repopulate it and establish a wildlife corridor between nearby National Protected Areas.

The company's long-term conservation agreement with WCS covers a range of activities including human-elephant conflict, forest protection, enhanced patrolling and road check points, community education, sustainable forestry and data collection. Work is concentrated on areas where illegal harvesting of forest products and wildlife occur and in zones of high biodiversity that are under threat. Capacity building and institutional development are also key components, with WCS and THPC partnering government agencies to improve conservation around the whole project area.

Many areas in the Nam Gnouang catchment are regarded as degraded land, comprised of secondary re-growth, and old upland fields in various stages of fallow. Evaluations carried out in 2016 by WCS recommended that the next phase be aligned with existing conservation efforts. The study highlighted that forests are dynamic and renewable and the best practical management of forest regeneration in an area like NGSPFA is through “Assisted Natural Regeneration”, whereby restoration of the forest ecosystem is primarily enabled through protection.

Since 2018 onwards a new organisational structure responsible for management of the Nam Gnouang South Forest protection program will be implemented, whereby Bolikhamxay PAFO manages the program, supported by a ten-year long-term THPC funding agreement to ensure protection and regeneration.

The main objectives of the plan include:

• Assisting the re-establishment and preservation of abundance of habitats and forest lands and aesthetics through natural regeneration;
• Reducing the risk of soil erosion and sedimentation in the catchment;

• Reduction of external and internal threats to the area, including illegal trade in wildlife and NTFPs, forest clearance for agriculture and livestock grazing.

A number of programs have been identified in the NGSPFA Plan. These include:

• Implementing an enforcement plan to minimise the loss of forest cover and biodiversity threats in the NGSPFA;
• Conducting community consultations on biodiversity monitoring and law enforcement;
• Continuing reconnaissance enforcement teams and involving communities in enforcement programs;
• Collecting, managing, analysing and reporting on biodiversity monitoring data that informs NGSPFA management decisions.