Public Participation in EA on Public Participation in EA on Community Water Resource Community Water Resource

Development ProjectDevelopment Project

IAIA 2007 Seoul IAIA 2007 Seoul 5 June 2007 5 June 2007

4:30-4:45 Room C 304A4:30-4:45 Room C 304A

Yanyong InmuongTeerayoot Udormporn

Penkhae ThamsenanupapHans Kuiper

Mahasarakham UniversityThailand 44150

E-mail : yanyong.i@msu.ac.th

Rural Thailand Water Resource Rural Thailand Water Resource Development ParadigmDevelopment Paradigm

Traditional Top-down driven by

central & provincial & local governments

Supply driven approach Pro single (sectoral)

objective – rice production

Transitional New created value-

sustainable development/ecology

Minor groups/uncovered local resource dependent/shared benefit and value/equity

Multi-stakeholder involvement in decision-making

Don Daeng Village CaseDon Daeng Village Case

Water Resource Dispute Caseat Don Daeng Village Rural NEThailand border to Laos PDR

Don Daeng Village

Don Daeng Fact and ProfileDon Daeng Fact and Profile

198 Households/882 Inhabitants/1168 hectare

Rice-farming and fishery dependent

Environmental pressure : Severe floods every 2-3 years

Locally well-known as fish stock and preserved fish (‘padak’) product village

Key conflict:

Water demand for dry-season rice growing

Water demand to maintain fish/aquatic biota/ecological value

Nong Chai Wan Reservoir : Proposed Dike Nong Chai Wan Reservoir : Proposed Dike Construction Conflict Construction Conflict

Dry-season rice farm/water melon/tomato growers proposed to build earth dike at Nong Chai Wan reservoir to increase water storage capacity

Village conservation groups/fishermen/cattle raiser fight back to keep it as it is for ecological value/fish stock/nature-resource conservation site

Stakeholder Stakeholder AnalysisAnalysis

Low-High Influence

Hig

h-L

ow

Im

porta

nt

-Dry-season rice grower

-Tomato grower

-Fishery/matting/cow raising groups

-Conservation group

-Local academia

-Irrigation dept.

-District agriculturalist

-District governor

-Local govt.

-Village leader

-School teacher

-Monk

-Village youth group/student

-Health authority

Rapid Environmental Assessment (EA) SurveyRapid Environmental Assessment (EA) SurveyNong Chai Wan ReservoirNong Chai Wan Reservoir

1.4 million m3. Fishing/cow raising Village water-supply Recreation/ecotourism/

eco-study Farmland irrigation Cyperus for weaving

reeds/matting Nature habitats; native

17 plants/31 fish species

Conflict of Interest PresentWater for dry-season rice farm vs Aquatic resources

& handicraft use

Participatory Development Participatory Development Learning ActionsLearning Actions Organize stakeholder

meeting

Exchange information on local resource-uses and different value holding

Assess dike construction impacts (+/-) on environment (physical/biological/socio-economic)

Seeking best alternative

Key Findings/SummaryKey Findings/Summary

All stakeholders found themselves no underlying values and resource-uses exchanged, informed and consulted so far

Stakeholders agreed to employ sustainable use of natural resource principle to deal with the case

Stakeholders did trade-off the +/- impact values and reached an agreement not to build the dike at Nong Chai Wan

The alternate choice proposed to choose another reservoir-Nong Chai Wan Dong-nearby to be the place supplying waters to dry-season rice farms

Key Findings/Summary (cont.)Key Findings/Summary (cont.)

The Nong Chai Wan should be planned for nature conservation site used for eco-tourism/fish stock/cow raising/matt weaving/eco-study/recreation

The key players commented the local government should organize the platform for participatory environmental assessment action of any proposed project during the planning stage

Conclusion/Lesson Learnt

Conflict on water-resource uses with different value-holding breaks down the traditional rural cohesion

The rapid EA study plus participatory learning discourse/actions could resolve the local water-resource development conflict case

The local government should employ the participatory EA, leading to collective rational solution on future resource development vision, esp. in rural Mekong villages

Thank ToThank ToMekong Wetlands Biological Mekong Wetlands Biological

Conservation and Conservation and Sustainable Use Program-Sustainable Use Program-

IUCNIUCNFor Financial SupportFor Financial Support

Thank You For Your Thank You For Your AttentionAttention