Mekong Sentinel Landscape overview

Presented at the CRP6 Gender and Value Chains workshop (2013-07-12)

Coordinated by: Jianchu Xu (ICRAF), Aaron J.M. Russell (CIFOR)

Contact: a.russell@cgiar.org

Ethnic and livelihood diversity along Mekong Region Transect

Social/ethnic groups: • Tibetan nomads

• Agropastalist

• Upland farmers

• Shifting cultivator

• Paddy farmers

• Fishery

Livelihoods: vulnerability, adaptation, governance:

• High Plateau

• Alpine

• Subtropical

• Tropical

• Aquatic/wetland

GMR Sentinel Landscape Focal Areas

North-South Corridor Upper Mekong • Northern Thailand • Northern Laos • Southern Yunnan

East-West Corridor Central Mekong • Central Vietnam • Central Laos • Eastern Thailand

Mekong partnership development May 2012 - Proposal devt: CIFOR and ICRAF-Kunming Nov. 2012 – stakeholder workshops (Vientiane and Kunming) • CGIAR centers • Lao research institutions • Lao/Mekong development and conservation institutions • Chinese research institutions May 2013 – Key partner meeting • Key Mekong SL partners (CIFOR, ICRAF, CIAT, RECOFTC, NUoL, Yunnan Institute of

Environment, XTBG)

Next • MOU being signed with NUoL; • Workshop analyzing existing data sets and developing regional research module • Pilot testing of SL methodology

MEKONG SL PARTNER NETWORKS AND DATA SETS

CRP Co-locating scientists • ICRAF: Jianchu Xu, Ed Grumbine, Zhuangfang Yi,

Huafang Chen; Delia Catacutan, Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt, Anne Tergeggen, Haiying Yu, Xing Mai, Peter Mortimer, Sailesh Ranjitkar

• CIFOR: Aaron J.M. Russell, Grace Wong, Krystof Obidzinski, Mrigesh Kshatriya, Thu Thuy Pham; Carol Colfer, Christine Padoch, Louis Putzel, Terry Sunderland, William Sunderlin, Nick Hogarth.

• Bioversity: Riina Jalonen • CIAT: Rod Lefroy, Keith Farney • IWMI: TBD • CPWF: Kim Geheb • CCAFS: TBD

Partners

ICRAF, CIFOR, IWMI, ILRI, CIAT, UNEP, Stockholm Environment Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Khon Kaen University, National Forestry and Agriculture Research Institute (Laos), Centre for Environment and Development (CDE, Swiss), National University of Laos, Asia Institute of Technology, University of Queensland, CSIRO and ACIAR (Australia), East-West Centre (United States), Goettingen University (Germany), RECOFTC

Country Socio-economic data

Biophysical-spatial data

China Yearly census from national government

3500 HH survey in Thailand, Laos and Yunnan

Climate data from Chinese government since 1950s, Access to China Ecological Network from 1990s, China soil database (2002)

Tree cover map from MODIS(250m); DEM,; Land use dynamics (1990,2000, 2010); 5 stepping stone benchmark sites (10km*10km) since 2009; Mekong River Commission – georefenrenced hydrological , climate, hydro-electric development

Thailand Yearly census from national government

Laos CDE’s socio-economic Atlas of Laos, ACIAR/U. Queensland /NAFRI baseline socio-economic survey ; WCS socio-economic surveys and resource monitoring; SUFORD/DOF socioeconomic survey throughout areas in and adjacent to all Forest Production Areas; CIFOR/IRD - Participatory Land Use ;Planning project data PLUP project data

CIFOR/IRD/others - Landscape Mosaics project data; Aix-en-Provence (CNAO-M) Archive data on Land use change and rubber expansion since 1920s.

Vietnam

CIFOR and partners - Global Comparative Study on REDD+ - data on policy and forest mitigation indicators, CIFOR and partners – Greater Mekong Conservation and Development project - socio-economic indicators, forest cover for 5 national parks PEN survey – 2 in Northern coastal area Cat Ban NP; somewhere near Quang Minh province

Data on coastal ecosystem nurtured by programs by government and NGOs. BMZ project on Forest fire and rubber in Central highlands – forest cover, poverty, remote sensing, biodiversity; Aix-en-Provence (CNAO-M) Archive data on Land use change and rubber expansion since 1920s

Cambodia Centre for advanced study – land tenure data since 1990s.

Aix-en-Provence (CNAO-M) Archive data on Land use change and rubber expansion since 1920s

Network of partner project sites

FOREST TRANSITION CURVE AS REPRESENTED BY PARTNER SITES

Kalasin - Thailand

Sakon Nakhon - Thailand

Mukdahan - Thailand

Nakhon Phanom - Thailand

Savannakhet - Laos

Quang Tri - Vietnam

Thia Thien Hui - Vietnam

Land cover 2005 FAO classification

Thailand Laos

Vietnam

Central Mekong

Central Mekong project sites

Kalasin - Thailand

Sakon Nakhon - Thailand

Mukdahan - Thailand

Nakhon Phanom - Thailand

Savannakhet - Laos Quang Tri - Vietnam

Thia Thien Hui - Vietnam

Land cover (2005-2009) in Savannakhet (Laos) and land cover 2009 in project locations

Thailand Laos

Vietnam

Central Mekong

METHODS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Methods - Socio-economic • Historical/archival analysis of key drivers (policies, market

integration) of land use change and livelihoods. • Every five years, review of policies, project interventions and

development activities (including FDI, market integration, infrastructure etc.) on land use change in the study areas. Political economy analysis of key drivers of change.

• Quantitative - Household survey with a seasonal component; gender disaggregated data collection integrated in the survey or follow up panel dataset collection. To be carried out every five years over a ten year period (at least 3 times).

• Qualitative – oral history, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, PRA, PRA mapping – to validate, triangulate and further develop quantitative findings.

Methods - Biophysical

• Large fixed sampling plots in conservation/protected forest areas, including hydrological and metrological data collection.

• Stratified random sampling of “spatial blocks or watersheds” to represent different land use types and tenure forms; in stratified random sampling of blocks, propose soil, vegetation, forest and key biodiversity indicator species.

Methods -Spatial • Link landscape mosaic mapping and drivers of land use

change building on datasets: – socioeconomic Atlas of Laos; – agricultural atlas of Vietnam; – Census of Laos of 1998, 2005 and 2010; – China - annual socioeconomic census of provincial,

prefecture, county, township levels; – satellite images of land use change.

• Broad regional type information – climate models refined based on local metrological information. Biophysical monitoring, including weather stations, hydrological stations, biodiversity, soil etc.

Methods -Sampling

• Within each country and each focal area, selection of 2 – 4 spatial blocks/watersheds to represent different land use/cover trajectories.

• Within each block, stratified sampling based on socio-economic, tenure patterns, land use dependency, ethnicity, and any key livelihood strategies.

• Enables testing of forest transition hypotheses within and between spatial blocks

Methods – District sampling

Qs: Policy impacts on gender/equity • How do development policies and corresponding land use

changes impact on local livelihood, gender equity and the flow of ecosystem of services (hydrology, soil quality and productive capacity)?

• How can policy and market interventions along the value chain of key commodities (such as tea from China, timber, green rubber, organic mushrooms, butterfly) enhance sustainability and poverty alleviation?

• What are the policies, institutional arrangements and practices for a more equitable distribution of the benefits from forest-related landscapes and enterprises?

• How does stakeholder engagement in policy processes at various levels, from design to implementation, affect their vulnerability, adaptive capacity and support for conservation?

Qs: Gender specific

• How can measures for conflict management and prevention be instituted and/or strengthened?

• How do gender and age specific migration patterns affect intra-household relations and land use choices?

• How do gender-specific appreciation or valuation of environmental services affect land use change?

Thank you!