Project Description
Protected Areas, Development, and Climate Change in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Duration: 2014-2015 | Location: GMS — Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar
About: The Greater Mekong Subregion is a global biodiversity hotspot. It is home to one of the world’s largest networks of protected areas, covering close to 20% of the region. The forests and wetlands contained within these protected areas support innumerable species and are the foundation of rural livelihoods and local economies.
Protected areas in the GMS are at risk from a range of pressures, including illegal logging, wildlife trade, commercial crop plantations, and infrastructure development. However, these very areas present an essential foundation for building resilience to climate change.
The preservation and extension of protected areas is a critical adaptation strategy for the communities who depend on them, as well as for broader local and national economies. Understanding localised impacts of climate change is fundamental to the preservation of the development benefits and adaptive capacity provided by protected areas and healthy natural systems. It is the foundation for adaptation planning and management for protected areas, local communities, and development sectors.
PAD I
From 2000-2003, ICEM facilitated the government-led PAD Review in Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Review brought together economic development and conservation agencies of the four governments, international conservation NGOs, and multilateral and bilateral organisations in a partnership to assess the status of protected areas in the region and define practical strategies to integrate their conservation within development planning.
As a result, the four governments formally adopted the national status reports and actions plans for the integration of protected areas and biodiversity conservation into national, sector and local development. For the first time, the four governments had detailed analysis of the linkages between poverty incidence and reduction and protected areas, and that information fed into collaborative management regulations and initiatives in all four countries.
This extensive economic assessment also laid the foundation for the payment for ecosystems services regulations and demonstrations in Vietnam and other LMB countries.
Find out more about the PAD I Review – Protected Areas and Development in the Lower Mekong >
PAD II
PAD II examines the nexus of biodiversity conservation, development, and climate change throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It is a national government led review of biodiversity conservation and its significance for development and community welfare.
It establishes the development benefits of the GMS protected areas estate and its critical role in poverty reduction. Plus, it assesses the status and trends in biodiversity, defines the impacts of climate change on those trends, and develops appropriate management and adaptation responses for effective conservation.
Thanks to a GMS-wide partnership between government agencies, conservation NGOs, and regional organisations providing the operational foundation for the project, the review aims to lead to regional and national strategies for better integration of protected areas into development planning.
>>> Download the 14 PAD II case studies <<<
Click to read the case study: Boeung Chhmar Ramsar Site, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia
Click to read the case study: Central Cardamoms Protected Forest, Koh Kong, Pursat, and Kampong Speu, Cambodia
Click to read the case study: Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary, Koh Kong Province, Cambodia
Click to read the case study: Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia
Click to read the case study: U Minh Thuong National Park, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam
Click to read the case study: Stung Treng Ramsar Site, Stung Treng Province, Cambodia
Click to read the case study: Beung Kiat Ngong Ramsar Site, Champasak Province, Lao PDR
Click to read the case study: Nakai-Nam Theun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, Khammouane Province, Lao PD
Click to read the case study: Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing Region, Myanmar
Click to read the case study: Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range, Rakhine State, Myanmar
Click to read the case study: Tram Chim National Park, Dong Thap Province, Vietnam
Click to read the case study: Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam
Click to read the case study: Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Click to read the case study: Nong Bong Kai Non-Hunting Area, Chiang Rai, Thailand
Regional Technical Workshop, Bangkok, October 2014
Over 60 participants from the 6 countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) came together in a workshop that examined ‘Mekong Protected Areas and Climate Change – Implications for Livelihoods and Development” The workshop was held from 8-10 October 2014, in Bangkok, Thailand, and was organised by ICEM — International Centre for Environmental Management and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) GMS Environment Operations Center (GMS-EOC).
Visit the Regional Workshop Report and Presentations page for more details and to download presentations.
