Ive been following the APOPO project for some time and their using African giant rat's for the clearance of UXO's, they have been working extensively in regions such as Angola and Tanzania, the project is now spreading to work in Cambodia, Laos and the border territories of Thailand.
Well, in Laos they still do it the conventional way. Last year UXO-Laos (the Government organization) had serious problems with funding but a few days ago, they did receive some additional funding from the USA so they can re-hire the trained technicians which had been laid of:
On October 16, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Benjamin Rhodes announced $2.2 million in new U.S. support to UXO Lao, which will enable it to rehire trained technicians it lost in 2014 as a result of funding difficulties. The UXO Lao teams will be deployed in the provinces of Huaphan, Xieng Khuang, Khammuan, Savannakhet, Saravan, and Champassak.
Since 1993, the United States has provided over $83 million in UXO-related assistance to Laos. In 2015, U.S. funding totalled US$15 million. Priority funding will support clearance of UXO found as a result of evidence-based surveys of contaminated areas.
Uxo's are still a big problem in Laos and in Luang Prabang province alone some 1437 Uxo items were in the 12 districts with the major part found in Nam Bak, Pak-Ou and Phoukhoun districts while so-far this year in Luang Prabang province two people have been killed and another four were listed in critical condition resulting from contact with UXOs.
