Region:  Mekong River Basin

Duration: Four years

Current Donor Partner:  None at the moment

Additional funds needed: US$ 120,000 annually

Background

The Mekong is the eleventh longest river in the world.  Originating in the high mountains of Tibet, the river travels about 4,200 km through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam, before finally converging with the South China Sea.  The Mekong basin supports a higher diversity of freshwater fish species than any other river basin in Asia. It is one of WWF’s Global 200 Highest Priority Ecoregions, one of the top five Living Rivers in the world and has a biodiversity level comparable to that of the Amazon River. However, life for subsistence farmers in many areas of the Mekong River Basin is precarious, with persistent food shortages for at least some months of the year. Many rural people particularly in remote areas have never had access to basic health and education services and experience low life expectancy and high infant mortality rates. Thus, integrating conservation and development, in particular at the local level, is one of the key challenges for protected area management in the region.

Given the uncertainties associated with the linkages between aquatic biodiversity and poverty, there is a real need to fill both perceived and real information gaps. Much information about biodiversity and its relationship to poverty is held within traditional knowledge systems. This needs to be tapped by the scientists, planners and policy makers. Likewise there is a need to translate more formal knowledge into a form which can raise the awareness of the poor to more sustainable uses of biodiversity.

Using biodiversity as a tool to assist in eradicating poverty requires a shift of mindset for many organizations. If it is to fulfill its role, this process needs to be institutionalized. That will require capacity building at many levels: communities, NGO’s, government agencies and the academe. However, this will be most effective when partnerships are developed to exchange information, skills and experience and to cooperate on the development of objectives and strategies.

IIRR’s experience in the Mekong

IIRR has been involved in Support and capacity-building to the NGO sector (both international. and local) in Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos (less so in China), especially through international training courses, as well as 'mentoring', customized course and other tech support for both individuals as well as organizations from the Mekong region. IIRR has also been involved with Sustainable agriculture & natural resources management: i.e., bio-intensive gardening, integrated farming and post-harvest of fruits/vegetables with VACVINA in Viet Nam, and CEDAC in Cambodia as well as integrated rice production/small-scale aquaculture with CRS-Cambodia in Svei Reing.

IIRR is working with local and international partners in the Mekong region on a capacity building project called “Mekong Learning Initiative”. The initiative aims at enhancing the capacities of local communities to sustainably utilize natural resources in their fight against poverty. Supported by Oxfam America, the Mekong Learning Initiative involves many partners including: Viet Nam’s Can Tho University, the World Fish Center ( ICLARM),  Pakse Secondary Agricultural College from Laos, and PADETC (Participatory Development Training Center) in Laos.

Objectives of the project

The broad objective of this project is to improve the quality of life of communities in selected sites of the Mekong region, specifically in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam through participatory approaches to biodiversity conservation and livelihoods by developing innovative approaches to protecting sites with high freshwater biodiversity value, including declared protected areas and nature reserves, river systems and lakes.

Specifically, the project aims to:

1. Assess and develop project framework and strategies through multi stakeholder consultation processes.

2. Identify and implement such alternative livelihood options that allow the stakeholders to minimize the pressures on the environment and therefore to the biodiversity of the region.

3. Increase the availability of fish and other aquatic flora and fauna (for food and livelihoods) both in terms of numbers and conservation of species.

4. Develop environmental and biodiversity conservation information, education and communication materials that directly or indirectly contribute to the understanding on biodiversity conservation of the region.

5. Improve the capacities of the communities and organizations in the region to work together for biodiversity conservation and management through continuous learning and sharing process that will involve the Government, people’s organizations and nongovernmental organizations.

6. Establish Community-based extension mechanisms by developing appropriate human resources both at community and intermediary organizational levels.

Strategies and Approaches

Freshwater biodiversity conservation and livelihoods will be used as an entry point. In the six-month planning phase, the project will identify specific geographical locations of recognized conservation importance within the above-mentioned hotspots. A participatory approach with involvement of stakeholders at all levels, and particularly the communities, will be developed to determine specific threats to biodiversity in the location. Particular project interventions, specifically those that relate to livelihoods, will be identified and a firm plan for the second phase (month seven to year 4) will be developed.

The approach would be building capacities of government service providers, partner NGOs, the academe and the communities through the partner NGOs. Partnership, learning, integration and participation will be key principles for this program initiative. Workshops for sharing and learning among key organizations that operate in the region will be organized to extract lessons and document them.

Expected outputs

At the end of the projects four years, it is expected that the overall quality of life of communities in selected sites of the Mekong region, specifically in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam will be improved. Since the project proposes to work with partners including the communities, it will result into meaningful partnership between and among people in the project sites.

It is also expected that at least 500 households will have directly benefited from improved or entirely new livelihoods, such as fishing, alternative agricultural farming and aquaculture. In addition to these direct beneficiaries, the project will have indirectly benefited both about the same number of households. The dual purpose of this would be to pull out stakeholders from further destructing the environment and at the same time create alternative livelihoods for them.

Time Frame and project costs

The first six-month period will be the planning phase of the project and the remaining three and a half years (42 months), the implementation period, hence, a total period of four years (48 months). Funding requirements are US $ 30,000 for the first six months (Planning Phase) and US $ 75,000 for the next six months of Year 1. From Years 2 to 4, the funding requirements are in the range of US$ 120, 000 per year, with a total project cost of US$ 465,000.