The Pathoumphone wetlands, (the Beung Kiat Ngong Ramsar site and the surrounding wetlands), comprise one of the largest complexes of standing naturally occurring wetlands in Lao PDR, with a great variety of wetland types present. They occupy the many basins, of a range of sizes and at varying stages of filling with solid matter, on a lava plain from a Bolaven plateau volcano. Vegetation ranges from closed swamp forest to extensive beds of graminoids, floating mats and open water containing aquatic species.
Some wetlands have been heavily converted to rice paddies, but the largest, Beung Kiat Ngong (also known as Bung Gnai Kiat Ngong, ‗gnai‘ meaning large), so far retains a very large area of open, uncultivated, marsh. Few of the the Pathoumphone wetlands have been dammed. The effects on the area‘s bird community may have been, on balance, positive, because the dammed wetlands increase the diversity of habitats present, and result in significantly more dry-season standing water. Peat has been extracted from some small areas. All large open wetlands are heavily grazed, have extensive removal of wood (for various reasons), and the flammable parts are regularly burnt in the dry season. Some level of burning is likely to be important in retaining the areas of non-woody vegetation, particularly with the loss of native large ungulates and the suspected declines in livestock numbers. Continued grazing is essential to retain the diversity of specialist wetland birds.
Birds are hunted very heavily, even by Lao standards, as part of a general offtake of usable wildlife. No bird species is known to have a high trade value.