txoj cai Hmoob coj yog ib txoj cai zoo rau ntawm kev pov hwm hav zoov hav tsuag rau qhov hav zoov niaj hnub no raug luaj ntov nyob rau xeev Luang prabang, los Tsuas Teb. IntroductionLand use change from forests to agriculture and industry are the leading cause of deforestation in the tropics and sub-tropics, which contain more than half of the world's forests (FAO 2011). The causes for the high rates of deforestation in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (hereinafter "Laos") are varied and the subject of some debate. Logging has been officially banned since the early 1990s (except in National Production Forest under approved management plans, for reservoir clearance, or for a variety of "special quotas") but still plays a major role in deforestation, in conjunction with pressure from immigration (Thapa 1998). Pioneer shifting agriculture has also recently been banned, but this may lead to more permanent agriculture and greater losses of biodiversity (Fox 2000). Conservation and Ethnobotanical Knowledge of a Hmong Community in Long