Poverty and Conservation .info

compass logo with points North-South, Conservation-Development

the information portal of the Poverty and Conservation Learning Group, providing all
project documentation, meeting notes, and hosting of the four PCLG web databases

Aquatic Resources Management to Improve Rural Livelihoods of the Xe Kong River Basin, Lao PDR

Case Study C0260
[edit]

DateSeptember 2006
AgencyWWF Living Mekong Programme
Project typeImplemented by agency
Context(s)Productive landscape
Protected area
Geographic coverageLaos
LocalityXe Kong river basin, Lao PDR
Biodiversity focusWatershed ecosystem
Development focusLocal communities
Conservation goalsConserve the biological diversity of the Xe Kong river basin
Poverty reduction goalsImprove the food security and natural capital of communities in the Xe Kong river basin

Summary
The Xe Kong river basin is one of the largest tributaries of the Mekong and an important river basin for capture fisheries and biological diversity. Due to the remoteness of the basin, there still remain large areas of relatively undisturbed forest that represent important habitat to local communities for collecting non-timber forest products to support local livelihoods.

Aquatic Resources Management to Improve Rural Livelihoods of the Xe Kong River Basin is a project implemented by WWF Living Mekong Programme that runs from 2005 to 2009. The overall objective of this project is to improve livelihoods and conserve biological diversity of the Xe Kong basin through participatory management of natural resources. This will be achieved through specific objectives and activities that are designed to achieve the following outcomes: (i) strengthen sustainable livelihoods of the rural poor; (ii) develop capacity for communities to participate in basin development planning; (iii) strengthen government policies and planning for river basin development.

Conservation impact
This process of getting the project established took longer than initially conceived and actual field implementation was delayed. As a consequence, no significant progress has been reported to date.

Poverty reduction impact
This process of getting the project established took longer than initially conceived and actual field implementation was delayed. As a consequence, no significant progress has been reported to date.

Strategy for Conservation/Poverty Linkages
Enabling local participation in policy-/decision- making processes
Devolution or reinstatement of local rights over/access to resources
Sustainable Use

Reference 1
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/tmflaosjune05.pdf

Reference 2
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/macro_economics/our_solutions/poverty/natural_resources/index.cfm

More information
Eric Meusch, Project Advisor