Opium Cultivation Imperilling Endangered Species in Northern Laos

Little is known about the ecological impacts of opium cultivation in Asia. Remote sensing of a national park in northeastern Laos revealed an alarming growth of opium poppy cultivation over the years 2018 to 2022. Opium fields were cleared in remote areas of the park, overlapping habitat of northern white‐cheeked gibbon, Asiatic elephant, dhole, clouded leopard and 20 other identified species of globally endangered fauna. We used satellite imagery and ranger patrol data to measure opium clearings, quantify hunting activity around these clearings and assess their impact on these endangered species. We found the clearing of fields for opium cultivation in remote forests to be an effort to avoid government eradication efforts and measured from 2018 to 2022, a > 1000% increase in protected forest annually cleared for the crop. We also measured a subsequent drop by 84% in 2023 following an outreach campaign by the park and local police agencies to the communities behind this cultivation. The satellite and ranger patrol data reveal a correlation between the amount of cultivation, in hectares and the encounter rate with cable snares in the area, snaring increasing with cultivation and decreasing when cultivation reduced. These findings reveal that the displacement of illicit cultivation into protected areas, as a side‐effect of eradication efforts, could have negative ecological impacts beyond deforestation alone. Locally, we recommend continued coordination between the park, local communities and law enforcement; globally, we recommend law enforcement agencies be aware of this potential leakage of illicit cultivation into protected areas and that protected areas, their viability and their function, be strongly considered in drug enforcement strategy.