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ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR NAKAI-NAM THEUN CATCHMENT AND CORRIDOR AREAS

PREFACE

Lao PDR holds some of the most important resources in Southeast Asia, yet it is one of the poorest countries in the world. This poses, on the one hand, a dilemma: achieving conservation objectives while meeting the urgent development needs of people. On the other hand, it also presents an opportunity to develop and implement strategies for conservative use of natural resources as a basis for sustainable development. Seizing this opportunity is no easy task, and most countries have failed to achieve sustainable development as a result of over- exploitation and depletion of their natural resource base. The Government of Lao PDR has made substantial and impressive progress in the development of one the most comprehensive protected area systems in South and Southeast Asia since the issuing of Decree 164. The value of the biodiversity conserved in these areas (currently about 12.5% of the country's land area) is enormous. Further, the areas which have been set aside have other critical values, in particular as a source of water for human consumption, agriculture and energy.

However, the challenges to build upon the opportunities provided by the setting aside of these conservation areas are considerable. All of the areas have resident communities, are subject to intensifying unsustainable resource use, and have limited management capacities at national, provincial and district levels to ensure that conservation objectives are achieved. If these challenges are not met then the future of biodiversity conservation and the additional benefits provided by protected areas for national development is gloomy. The Lao Government has taken the important first steps in meeting these challenges, but it will require the concerted application of the Government and its partners to make sure that innovative solutions are found and implemented.

In many ways the Nakai-Nam Theun area symbolises facing biodiversity conservation and development in Lao PDR. It is an area of outstanding biodiversity conservation significance and natural beauty, and offers the prospect of forging important links at the international conservation level through dialogue with Viet Nam on transborder biodiversity issues - including the potential for joint World Heritage nomination of the Sai Phou Louang/Truong Son Range. At the same time its water resources are about to be tapped for hydropower energy, through the Theun-Hinboun , and potentially through the Nam Theun 2 dam. It contains impoverished people, high value timber and wildlife for commercial trade, and it is a rugged area with difficult management constraints. It is also an area of remarkable ethnic diversity and cultural vulnerability. Achieving a balance between conservation and human development needs in Nakai-Nam Theun will play a critical role in the formulation of effective conservation management throughout Lao PDR.

This Environmental and Social Management Plan for the Nakai-Nam Theun area is the outcome of seven months of intensive work and consultation undertaken by the IUCN Project Team. This has comprised social, ethnographic and wildlife surveys in the Nakai-Nam Theun NBCA and proposed extension and corridor areas. It has also involved consultation with communities and officials at local, district, provincial and national levels throughout the course of the project. This has included two formal national public consultations, in January and July 1997, to which the Government invited participants from interested international agencies and NGOS within and outside Lao PDR. Throughout, the project was overseen by an interministerial Steering Committee which met four times.

The consultations which were held after the release of the first draft Management Strategy in June, as well as other comments received from various parties, have been taken into account in the preparation of this plan. One of the major outcomes of the consultative process has been a decision to produce more of a "synthesis document." The critical challenge facing conservation management throughout the world, and especially in Lao PDR, is to integrate environmental conservation concerns and approaches with social issues and the needs of indigenous and rural people. This plan attempts to provide a clear direction on how this can be achieved in Nakai-Nam Theun. Inevitably, the complexity of social, cultural, economic and environmental issues in the project area has resulted in an equally complex, lengthy, management planning document. Six project reports contribute to the Management Plan: Page 2 of 6

1. Cultural Diversity and Socio-Economic Development in the Context of Conservation. A Social Action Plan. 2. A Conservation Action Plan for the Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis Four Technical Reports in the following disciplines: 3. Ethnography; 4. Socio-economics; 5. Botany-Plant Ecology; and, 6. Wildlife

Despite the length and complexity of this document, it must be remembered that a plan which has been prepared relatively rapidly should not be seen as a detailed "blueprint". Its purpose it to provide a clear analysis of key issues, assess various options, and identify appropriate goals and objectives as a strategic basis for the more detailed work which must follow. In 6ther words, this plan only represents the "end of the beginning" - it is the start of a process which will take years, and considerable resources, to bring to a successful outcome. That outcome will be the effective conservation of one of the world's most valuable biodiversity areas, in conjunction with the improved social development and cultural conservation of the areas resident peoples.

Stuart Chape

IUCN Representative - Lao PDR July 1997

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IUCN gratefully acknowledges an enormous amount of assistance which the Study Team received during the preparation of this plan and particular thanks are due to the NT2 Project Management Team at the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts.

The preparation of the plan would not have been possible without the guidance and assistance of the Science Technology and Environment Organisation (STENO), the Team's counterpart Organisation. STENO's task in organising the three, sometimes four, field teams which often worked independently, was a formidable one and the Study Team is most grateful to the large number of STENO staff who worked tirelessly on the team's behalf. Counterparts from other agencies also assisted and they too, are gratefully acknowledged, in particular those from the Centre for Protected Areas and Watershed Management (Department of Forestry) and the Institute of Cultural Research.

The Provincial Administrations of Khammouane and Bolikhamxay Provinces were deeply involved in the study and their flexibility and positive response to many last- minute requests for assistance and counterparts, made the field work all possible. Similarly, thanks are due to the staff of BPKP whose logistical support enabled the field teams to reach isolated locations and communities.

No acknowledgment is complete without a sincere but unheard thanks to the many village leaders and villagers who uncomplainingly provided much time and assistance to the field teams, at a time, when for many of them their particular circumstances were most difficult.

Finally, a separate and specific thank you to the WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY (WCS), which as IUCN's partner in the preparation of this plan, contributed above and beyond their agreement. WCS's experience together with a professional and practical approach to the wildlife conservation issues of the Nakai-Nam Theun area, significantly enhanced the comprehensiveness of this Management Plan.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables and Figures List of Annexes Preface Page 3 of 6

Abbreviations and Acronyms Summary Part I -Background to Plan Formulation and Management Principles 1 INTRODUCTION - PLAN FORMULATION 1 1.1 The Purpose of the Plan 1 1.2 Timeframe of the Plan 1 1.3 The Structure of the Document 1 1.4 Study Reports 2 2 PREPARATION OF THE PLAN AND THE PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT 3 2.1 Current Study 3 2.2 Team Experience 3 2.3 The Planning Process 3 2.4 The Principles of Management 4 3 DESIGNATION AND STATUS OF THE NAKAI-NAM THEUN CATCHMENT 7 AND CORRIDOR AREAS 3.1 The Nakai-Nam Theun Catchment and Corridor Areas 7 3.2 Buffer Zones 8 3.3 Legal and Administrative Framework 8 3.4 Status of Management in the Nakai Nam Theun NBCA 9 Part II - The Setting of the NNT Conservation Area 4 THE SETTING OF THE NAKAI NAM THEUN CONSERVATION AREA 1 4.1 Administrative Setting 1 4.2 Soils 1 4.3 Land Use 1 4.4 Climate and Meteorology 1 5 NATURAL RESOURCES 5 5.1 Topographic Features of the NNT Conservation Area 5 5.2 Vegetation and habitats 6 5.3 Fauna 8 5.4 Summary of conservation significance 11 6 THE ETHNO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT 12 6.1 Ethnographic Overview 12 6.2 Demographic Overview 15 6.3 Existing Infrastructure and Community Services 17 6.4 Existing and Proposed Land and Resource Use Developments 20 7 VILLAGER LIVELIHOODS AND THE CURRENT USE OF NATURAL 29 RESOURCES 7.1 Agroecosystems 29 7.2 Agricultural Practices 30 7.3 Land Tenure 33 7.4 Commerce 33 7.5 Utilisation of Forest Habitats 33 7.6 and Other Exploitation of Wildlife 36 Page 4 of 6

7.7 Trans International Border Incursions 38 8 PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL 40 HABITATS AND WATERSHED PROTECTION 8.1 Introduction 40 8.2 Direct Threats to Natural Habitats, Biodiversity and Watershed Protection 40 8.3 Vulnerable Ethnic Minorities 47 8.4 General Constraints to Effective Conservation Management 48 8.5 Implications of the NT2 Hydropower Project 49 Part III - Management Plan 9 A FRAMEWORK FOR CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT 1 9.1 Introduction 1 9.2 Management Policy for NNT Conservation Area 2 9.3 Administrative Structure 2 9.4 Regulatory Framework 5 9.5 Boundaries and the Management of Buffer Zones 7 9.6 Nature, Culture, Conservation and Development 8 9.7 Improved Livelihoods 11 9.8 The Demographic Threat 15 9.9 Development of Inholder Communities 17 9.10 General Infrastructure 20 9.11 Commercial Timber Extraction 24 9.12 Hunting and Other Extraction of Wildlife 24 9.13 Trans-boundary Incursions 27 9.14 Management 30 10 ZONING AND DEVELOPMENT 34 10.1 Introduction 34 10.2 Proposed Management Zonation of the NNT Conservation Area 36 Part IV - Management Arrangements & Programme 11 NNT CONSERVATION AREA MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS 1 11.1 General 1 11.2 Development 1 11.3 The Role of the Nam Theun Social and Environmental Project 5 12 PROGRAMME ORGANISATION 7 12.1 Background 7 12.2 General Programme 8 12.3 Protection Management Programme 12 12.4 Training and Human Resource Development Programme 15 12.5 Monitoring, Research and Habitat Management 16 12.6 Community Development Coordination 21 12.7 Cultural Preservation of Vulnerable Ethnic Minorities 27 12.8 Reservoir Management 28 12.9 Budget 31 Page 5 of 6

Figures

Figure 2.1 Biodiversity Areas of Central Lao PDR. Figure 3.1 Location Map Figure 3.2 Components of the NNT Conservation Area Figure 5.1 Topographic features of the NNT Conservation Area Figure 6.1 Hydropower projects of the Nam Theun basin Figure 6.2 Configuration of the NT2 Reservoir at full inundation Figure 6.3 Features of the NT2 Hydropower Project Figure 11.1 Organisation of the Nam Theun Watershed Conservation Authority

Tables

Table 3.1 Area of NNT Conservation Area and its separate components Table 5.1 Numbers of Key mammal and bird species in NNT Conservation Area Table 6.1 Vietic Cultural Typology Table 6.2 Population and ethnicity of Inholder villages of the NNT Conservation Area Table 6.3 Population of peripheral villages of the NNT Conservation Area Table 6.4 Population Growth Rates of NBCA Inholder Communities Table 6.5 Ancillary Road Works of the NT2 Hydropower Project Table 6.6 Anticipated Conservation Tradeoffs of the NT2 Hydropower Project Table 7.1 Cropping Systems in Villages of NNT NBCA Table 7.2 Summary of Deficiency in Villages of the NNT Conservation Area Table 7.3 Cash Income of NNT NBCA Inholders Table 7.4 Cash Income of NNT Conservation Area Peripheral Communities Table 7.5 Selected Species Targeted by Wildlife Traders, with Notes on Uses and Value Table 9.1 Ethnicity and Action Plan Focus Table 9.2 Appropriate land-use and livelihood changes for improved livelihoods and food security Table 9.3 Improved Livelihoods and Associated Development Initiatives Table 9.4 Potential Demographic Strategies to Restore the Environmental Balance within the NBCA. Table 9.5 Infrastructure planning for the NNT Conservation Area Table 9.6 Operational Responsibility and Management Interest in Prospective NT2 Reservoir Management Activities Table 10.1 Summary of Proposed Zone Classification for NNT Conservation Area Table 10.2 Preliminary Activity Classification in Management Zones. Table 12.1 Programmes of the Nam Theun Watershed Conservation Authority Table 12.2 Nam Theun Watershed Conservation Authority Staff Requirements Table 12.3 NNT Conservation Area Infrastructure Requirements Table 12.4 Training and Human Resource Development Needs. Table 12.5 Components of the Saola Action Plan Page 6 of 6

Table 12.6 Programme for the Cultural Preservation of Vulnerable Ethnic Minorities Table 12.7 Indicative 5 year Budget Annex 4 Table Habitat and Vegetation Types of the NNT Conservation Area A1 Annex 4 Table Current Global and Local Status of Key Mammal Species Recorded in the NNT A2 Conservation Area Annex 4 Table Current Global and Local Status of Key Bird Species Recorded in the NNT A3 Conservation Area

Boxes

Box 9.1 Nakai Nam Theun Conservation Area - World Heritage Status ? Box 9.2 Ecological Attributes of the NNT Conservation Area Forest Ecosystem Box 9.3 Rules of Dong Hua Sao NBCA Box 12.1 Applied Research Topics of Relevance to the NNT Conservation Area Box 12.2 Establishment of Key Villages, Field Centres and Sustainable Agricultural Activities

Annexes

Annex 1 Boundary Maps Annex 2 Nakai Nam Theun studies and reports Annex 3 Temporary Rules of the Nakai Nam Theun NBCA Annex 4 Key Bird and Mammal Species Annex 5 The case for the Sai Phou Louang National Park Annex 6 Trans-boundary Biodiversity Conservation Workshop Recommendations Annex 7 Principle Management Changes without a Dam on the Nakai Plateau Annex 8 5 Year Indicative Budget - Detailed Breakdown