International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology

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1 This article was downloaded by: [University of Tokyo] On: January 5, At: 8:55 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 7954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-4 Mortimer Street, London WT 3JH, UK International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: The significance of social capital in local forest management in Laos: Overcoming latent conflict between local people and local forestry officials Kimihiko Hyakumura & Makoto Inoue Published online: Sep. To cite this article: Kimihiko Hyakumura & Makoto Inoue (6) The significance of social capital in local forest management in Laos: Overcoming latent conflict between local people and local forestry officials, International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 3:, 6-4, DOI:.8/ To link to this article: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content ) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sublicensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

2 International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 3 (6) 6 4 The significance of social capital in local forest management in Laos: Overcoming latent conflict between local people and local forestry officials Kimihiko Hyakumura and Makoto Inoue Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Kanagawa, Japan Department of Global Agricultural Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Key words: Social capital, collaboration, local forest management, traditional forest-related knowledge, Laos SUMMARY Forest policies that devolve forest-use rights to local people have undergone development over the past few years in Laos. As collaboration between local people and forestry officials is seen as indispensable to effective and sustainable local forest management, the objective of this study is to clarify the issues pertinent to the resolution of latent conflict between these two stakeholders. The issues are examined by presenting two case studies in terms of forest management as perceived by local people and forestry officials; the first in a rich forest area and the second in a degraded forest. Issues relating to land and borders and social capital are identified as the most important in the degraded forest area, while social capital is a very important issue in the rich forest area. Our studies show that the problems of land and border issues in the degraded forest area were caused by an inappropriate resettlement policy. This can be interpreted as the mismanagement of social capital, and for effective local forest management it is very important to overcome problems of this nature. The effective use of social capital has so far been overlooked, however, in the establishment of collaborative forest governance at the local level. INTRODUCTION Laos is a country in transition towards a market economy (Stuart-Fox 4). Specific features observed in terms of the forestry sector are: () a movement towards the implementation of forestry law, and () a growing trend in efforts to transfer the responsibility of forest management to local people and the reactions to these efforts (Inoue and Hyakumura 999). Under these conditions, it is indispensable to have collaboration between local people and forestry officials in order to accelerate the development of effective local forest management. In examining the land and forest allocation programmes implemented in Laos to date, which consisted of measures to devolve forestuse rights to local people (Oya 998, Anonymous, Hyakumura and Khotpathoum 3), Correspondence: K. Hyakumura, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 8-, Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa 4-5, Japan. hyakumura@iges.or.jp 6 Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:44:8

3 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 it should be noted that these are still at the trialand-error stage (Inoue and Hyakumura 999). The objective of this study, therefore, is to clarify the key issues involved in order to overcome latent conflict between local people and forestry officials. Within the context of these background factors, we first attempt to clarify various issues, including identifying problems and good examples regarding local forest management in Laos. Subsequently, we discover that these issues are almost all related to social capital. And finally, we propose that there is a need to establish collaborative forest governance as a social mechanism to strengthen social capital. METHODOLOGY Data collection In order to understand the various issues involved in forest management by local people and forestry officials, the following data collection methods were employed: first, research was conducted at the village level through field observation, semistructured interviews with households (selected using a wealth-ranking method), and key informant interviews with members of each village s elite group, using participatory tools such as community mapping and creating seasonal calendars, etc. Interviews were also conducted with local forestry officials on the implementation of forest-related policies. Those interviewed included both staff of the local District Agriculture and Forestry Office (DAFO) and staff of the Provincial Agricultural and Forestry Office (PAFO). The officials at the provincial level plan and manage all forest-related administrative activities, while officials at the district level conduct activities at the village level. As our first priority is focusing on the issues at the village level, we concentrated on the DAFO staff as the local forestry officials. In order to confirm the main forest management issues in terms of implementation of the legal system, an analysis of forest and forestry-related policy was also conducted. The issues of concern identified by both local people and local forestry officials included the use, protection and rights to timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs), as well as customary law and privileges for land and forest resources use. In order to avoid misunderstanding of the many complicated issues involved, each was isolated to consist of only one topic. In some cases, issues were excluded which could be solved in an alternative way and those judged as non-essential, even though they were identified by local people and local officials as important. For example, the issues dealing with financial support from external organizations were left out. In the field research, the authors also identified issues that were important from the viewpoint of local people and local forestry officials. As a result, problems and good examples recognized by them were selected and organized using the criteria outlined below. The various issues are categorized according to the following four aspects, which were developed from the actual situation at each study site: () Land and borders This refers to issues concerning village boundaries, land shortage, the vicious cycle of swidden agriculture, and the lease of land by other villages. () Livelihood This refers to income generation and the use of NTFPs and agricultural products (3) Institutional concerns This refers to issues of customary law in regulating the use of NTFPs, the gap between formal regulations and customary rule in terms of actual regulation, as well as forest management systems, decision-making, etc (4) Human relations This refers to the gap among villagers (between the elite and others) and the relationships between local people and local forestry officials. To confirm and, if necessary, revise, the problems and good examples that fall into the categories listed above, several local meetings were held at both target villages and local forestry offices. It should be noted that discussion of some issues identified by the authors was evaded because of disagreement between local people or local forestry officials. Description of the study sites Two areas were selected for research, based on the assumption that issues pertaining to a rich forest area would be different from those relating to a International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 7 Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:44:9

4 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 degraded one. For the rich forest research site we selected an area including three villages located in and around the Phou Xang He Protected Area in the province of Savannakhet in southern Laos, and then two villages in a swidden agricultural area in the province of Oudomxay in northern Laos for the degraded forest study site. Savannakhet boasts the highest capacity of rice production among provinces, as well as rich forests, including two protected areas and a national production forest. On the other hand, Oudomxay, which is earmarked by the government as a focal province for reduction of swidden agriculture, is a land of many steep hillsides, where few areas are suitable for paddy field cultivation; instead it is dominated by swidden agriculture. In northern Laos, the government conducted a population relocation policy, which included Oudomxay province (Goudineau 997). The basic information for each province can be found in Table. RESULTS The development of forest policy in Laos After a revolution in 975, Laos became a communist country. In 986, the government launched an economic reform policy under its New Economic Mechanism (NEM), which promoted reform of the state socialist economy in order to reduce trade deficits and remove restrictions that dramatically impaired trade after 975 (Stuart-Fox 4). In recent years, the forests of Laos have been degraded, worsened mainly by improper and unauthorized logging and swidden agriculture. By 989, forest cover had shrunk to about 47% from about 7% in 94 (National Office of Forestry Inventory and Planning 99). In 989, the first National Conference on Forestry was held in Vientiane to discuss the rapid rate of deforestation and environmental deterioration. Countermeasures proposed were the cultivation of cash crops, the implementation of a land-use classification policy for the improved management of land and forests by local people, and the encouragement of tree-planting activities. After the conference, the preparation of a legal system to govern land and forests was made a priority. In 996, the Forestry Law was promulgated, making it the first piece of legislation in Laos concerning forests and forestland. A major legal reform of the forestry sector occurred as a result, which was remarkable in that efforts were made to transfer the responsibility of forest management to local people through the Land and Forest Allocation programme (LFA), enacted in the same year to determine the boundaries of all villages in the country and codify the natural resource use rights of both local people and village authorities (Anonymous ; Kitamura 3). Besides the policy objective of assigning land and forest use-rights to the local people, it was also aimed at eliminating the practice of swidden agriculture. Under the LFA, each household is allowed no more than three plots of land to be used for swidden agriculture on a permanent basis. Beyond that, swidden agriculture is not permitted. Another turning point was the protected area management policy, launched in 993 by a Prime Ministerial decree, to establish protected areas in which the use of forest resources was not permitted. In reality, however, people were living in these areas beforehand, and the regulation led to the Table Basic statistics on the provinces of Savannakhet and Oudomxay, Laos Province Savannakhet Oudomxay All provinces Area (km ) Population (persons) Population density (persons/km ) Rainfed paddy field (km ) Irrigated paddy field (km ) Swidden agriculture area (km ) Forest cover (%), , 34.4,6 55 5,37 34, ,8 5,9,.5 5,, 8 47 Sources: State Planning Committee, National Statistical Center, National Office of Forestry Inventory and Planning 99 Note: Data on population and agricultural area as of ; forest rate as of 99 8 International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:44:9

5 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Figure The two study sites restriction of local people s livelihoods. A subsequent decree by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in changed this and permitted forest resource use by local people for sustainable uses (Hyakumura and Khotpathoum 3). As for population relocation, local people who lived in mountainous areas originally moved spontaneously because of constraints imposed by swidden agriculture and their traditional beliefs (Goudineau 997), although village relocations have always been frequent. Recently, however, some villages were obliged to relocate due to outside pressures. During the Indo-China War and the related civil war, many villages had to migrate to avoid damage or destruction. After the establishment of a new government in 975, the rural development policy against swidden agriculture and opium cultivation also led people living in mountainous areas to relocate. The rural development policy, which is different from self-chosen relocation, tries to dictate the design of settlement. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 9 Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:45:6

6 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 Southern Laos, Savannakhet province General description of the villages researched Each of the three villages studied is connected with the protected area: the territories of two overlap with it, while one village lies totally within it (Hyakumura and Khotpathoum 4). The population in Laos can be classified into three ethnic groups based on the altitude of their residence: Lao Lum (Lowland Lao) 56%; Lao Theung (Upland Lao) 34%; and Lao Soung (Highland Lao) 9%. The populations in the three target villages in Savannakhet province belong to the Lao Theung which are part of the Bru (Mongkong) tribe of the Mon-Khmer ethnic group (Hyakumura and Khotpathoum 4). Out of all the people in Laos belonging to the Bru tribe, 59.8% of them live in Savannakhet province. They live along the hillsides of the mountain ranges that run from east to west, and constitute 8.3% of the population of the province (Nagata ). These villages, established more than 5 years ago, are located far from the local market and main roads, and the principal occupation of local people is agriculture in the form of paddy field cultivation, swidden agriculture, raising livestock, and the collection of NTFPs. Their staple food is sticky rice, but because yearround rainfall is not sufficient, many households run short of rice, and exchange and sell NTFPs and small livestock (pigs and chickens) to make up for it. In fact, more than 8% of villagers do not have enough rice to eat year-round, but they have emergency foods such as wild yam (Dioscorea hispida). Using a wealth-ranking method, we found that there are basically three economic classes in these villages: wealthy, middle and poor. For our purposes, we looked at the wealthy and the poor classes. At the wealthy level, people such as the village leader, the most experienced person, and the village elders have considerable access to paddy fields and enough labour available in the form of manpower and work animals such as buffalo. At the poor level, on the other hand, most suffer from a lack of manpower, little or no paddy field area, few work animals, and no one to take care of their children. Therefore, they must make a living not only from growing rice but also from the collection of NTFPs. Emerging problems and good examples We identified issues regarding forest management that were recognized by both local people and local forestry officials. From the viewpoint of local people, the standard issues picked up were those that, for them, represented advantages or disadvantages. From the viewpoint of local forestry officials, the standard issues picked up were those that led to the acceleration or obstruction of their implementation of administrative work. The points assigned to issues that provided actual advantages or disadvantages to local people or local forestry officials were given a double score. The potential issues, which have the possibility of giving advantages or disadvantages to local people or local forestry officials, were given a single score. Table shows the result of the scoring exercise. As a result, we found that many of the problems are related to the human relations issue. The relationship of mutual trust between local people and local forestry officials and information transmission among local people got two points, while information transmission from local forestry officials to local people, the method of undertaking used by local officials, and disparity in economics among local people were each given one point. As for classification of the relationship of stakeholders, there are three pattern problems identified: relationships between local people and Table Problems and good examples recognized by stakeholders, Savannakhet Actual ( ) Potential ( ) Total Issues Good Problem Good Problem Good Problem Land and borders Livelihood Institutional concerns Human relations Total International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:45:7

7 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 local forestry officials, relationships among local people, and relationships among local forestry officials. In the problems between local people and local forestry officials, there is less mutual trust of the differences of culture and custom and less information transmission from local official to the village due to the difficulty of accessibility. In the problems among local people, there is the monopoly of useful information by village elites. In the problems observed among local officials, there are problems caused by personnel changes, so that the efficiency of administrative works is negatively affected. On the other hand, the following four main good examples in terms of effective forest and land management were found in areas regarding land and borders, livelihood, and institutional concerns : () Customary rules governing the use of NTFPs with the neighbouring village, () Sustainable collection of NTFPs, (3) Seasonal use of NTFPs for sustainability, and (4) Spiritual forest established by local people functioning as conservation forest. Most of these examples focus on NTFPs, so we can summarize that the customary use of NTFPs mainly rattan and oleo resin (Dipterocarpus alatus) for the local market, yam (Dioscorea hispida) for emergency food, and cardamom (Amomum sp.) and dammar (Shorea obtusa) for export lead to good examples of effective land and forest management. Northern Laos, Oudomxay province General description of the villages researched The two target villages in Oudomxay province are occupied by people of the Khamou tribe, belonging to the Lao Theung group; 57.6% of the total population of the province is Khamou (Nagata ). Due to the government policy to eliminate the practice of swidden agriculture and eradicate opium cultivation, local people were made to relocate from the mountainsides to the roadside and this resulted in the establishment of two new villages, one in 995 and the other in 997 (Pengsopha and Morimoto 4). Both were allocated land on the grounds of the relocation programme, and the territories ended up overlapping with those of neighbouring villages. One of the study villages is 4 km from the downtown of the district centre, which can be walked in only h, while the other is 6 km from the same point, connected by a wide road. The geography of these village territories is mostly sloping landscape, and because of this there are no paddy fields and the main occupation is swidden agriculture (besides growing vegetables, raising livestock, and NTFP collection). Because of the proximity to the town of Muang Pakbeng, the district centre, some local people commute there for daily employment. The territorial dispute between villages has not been resolved, however, even though the land and forest allocation programme has been conducted in both villages (Pengsopha and Morimoto 4). Emerging problems and good examples Table 3 shows the results of identifying and ranking issues using the same procedure as in the case of Savannakhet province. As a result, we found that the problems here centred on issues of land and borders and human relations. The dispute over village boundaries with neighbouring villages was given four points, such as the case in which the neighbouring village did not follow the results of land and forest allocation and continued to use land transgressing the village border. Swidden Table 3 Problems and good examples recognized by stakeholders, Oudomxay Actual ( ) Potential ( ) Total Issues Good Problem Good Problem Good Problem Land and borders Livelihood Institutional concerns Human relations Total International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:45:7

8 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 agriculture conducted in prohibited areas was given three points, in the case where certain land uses, particularly swidden agriculture, were restricted as a result of the land and forest allocation programme. According to the interviews with the village elite group, there were many conflicts relating to land use between local people within a single village and boundary issues between neighbouring villages as a result of the relocation programme. Although the land and allocation programme was conducted here, both the new villages and the pre-existing ones did not have any opportunity to come to agreement about village boundaries, so this problem still triggers conflicts. As for the human relations problem, a communication gap between stakeholders was observed. Communication between local people and local forestry officials was given three points. There are two patterns of problems relating to this communication gap: () The differences of cultures and customs between local officials, the Lao majorities, local people, and some Lao minorities; and () The physical distance gap which caused local forestry officials to rarely visit the villages. We noted this communication problem between local people and local forestry officials in the study areas in both provinces. Disputes among local people, where differences within the home village lead to difficulties in agreement, were given one point. On the other hand, good examples in the categories of land and borders, livelihood, and institutional concerns were given one point each. In the land and borders category we found positive effects resulting from the rent of land for swidden agriculture from another village, and in the livelihood category we found the successful introduction of commercial crops. In institutional concerns we found effective customary forest management by local people, of which there were many cases in Savannakhet. DISCUSSION Most of the problems in the Oudomxay case led to disputes over the issue of land and boundaries. This is because the concerned villages were relocated without agreement on boundaries with neighbouring villages under the initiative of the government, not the local people. Therefore, problems might have been caused by inefficient administrative handling. Common problems in both of the Savannakhet and Oudomxay study areas relate to human relations issues, the main ones caused by lack of mutual understanding among local people themselves and between them and local forestry officials. In terms of mutual understanding among local people, characteristics differ between Savannakhet and Oudomxay. In Savannakhet, there is the economic disparity between those in the rich class, who have sufficient paddy fields for their needs, and those of the poor class, who have little agricultural land. In Oudomxay, there are home village differences within a single village. On the other hand, there are common characteristics regarding mutual understanding between local people and local forestry officials in both areas, in that the local people in both study areas belong to the minority Lao Theung ethnic group. It is thought that there are gaps in understanding of the culture and customs between the local people and local forestry officials, who mainly belong to the Lao tribe in the majority. In one of the research interviews with local forestry officials, they mentioned that they find it very difficult to understand local people s religious courtesies and customs. In one of the villages studied, these are closely connected with their natural resource management, and without an understanding of these it is very difficult to understand their forest management practices. We also identified problems with the LFA programme in both the provinces of Savannakhet and Oudomxay, where, even though local people expressed their opinions on the LFA process, land and forest use plans were not made in line with local reality. Therefore, because the most important forest policy regimes regarding the protected area in Savannakhet and swidden agriculture in Oudomxay are reflected in the LFA, local forestry officials should follow these policies more closely when conducting their activities. Otherwise, a gap in the land and forest use plan between local people and local forestry officials is unavoidable. We also discovered a problem with the restriction of resource use in the protected area in Savannakhet. According to our field research, we know that local people collect some NTFPs in the International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:45:8

9 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 protected area without incurring any penalties; however, this was minor compared to other, more important problems. CONCLUSION With regard to forest management at a local level, there is still latent conflict between local people and local forestry officials, which is caused by the problems outlined above, especially lack of communication. Even within a single village, large differences still exist not only in terms of wealth and property, as reflected in the ownership of land and livestock or otherwise, but also in terms of ethnicity. Land and border problems were mainly caused by the careless implementation of the government relocation programme. These should be discussed among local people in cooperation with local officials. We also found that forest management conducted by local people contains sustainable aspects from the viewpoint of effective forest resource management. Some of the forest resource use practices of local people utilizing traditional forest-related knowledge should be recognized, respected, and further supported. The disparities observed are primarily related to issues of human relations and mutual reliance, which can be conceptualized as social capital defined here as the social resources upon which people draw in pursuit of their livelihood objectives (DFID 999). This can be seen in human networks, social organizations, relationships of trust, etc. When connectedness and cohesion within a community/group is strengthened, it is called bonding social capital (Narayan 999). When it strengthens the networks between communities/groups, between villagers and government officials, for example, it is called bridging social capital (ibid. 999). In the future, key issues on how to develop a network and working relationships among the various stakeholders should be explored. In particular, the role of local forestry officials who control policy and other programmes at the local level must be reviewed. In terms of developing social capital in local forest management, it is very important to enrich both types of bonding and bridging social capital. For this to occur, the establishment of collaborative forest governance at the local level should be adapted for Laos. In relation to this study, how to establish collaborative forest governance is a subject that should be explored in future research. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The information in this research was collected by the project activity of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies for the fiscal year to 3. We thank Mr. Phengsopha Kaisone, Morimoto Takashi, and Khotpathoum Thananh for their assistance. Parts of the research were conducted with the financial support of the Sumimoto Foundation through an environmental research project grant (subject: Impact and issues on forest resources and local people by land and forest allocation policy of Laos) in the Japanese fiscal year and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (no. 578: Political ecology of participatory forest management; representative: Dr. Inoue, Makoto) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. REFERENCES Anonymous. Decentralized natural resources management in Luang Phabang province, Laos. In Mairi D et al., Environment, Livelihoods, and Local Institutions: Decentralization in Mainland Southeast Asia. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute; :6 8 Department for International Development (DFID). Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets. London, UK: Department for International Development;999 Goudineau Y. (ed.) Resettlement and Social Characteristics of New Villages Basic Needs for Resettlement Communities in the Lao PDR, Vol.. Vientiane, Lao PDR: UNDP; 997 Hyakumura K and Khotpathoum T. Local forest management of national biodiversity conservation area in Laos. In: Inoue M and Isozaki H (eds), People and Forest-Policy and Local Reality in Southeast Asia, the Russian Far East, and Japan. Dortrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 3:6 74 Hyakumura K and Khotpathoum T. Impacts of forest related policies on local people in the Phou Xang He Protected Area, Savannakhet Province, Laos. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 3 Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:45:8

10 Downloaded by [University of Tokyo] at 8:55 January 5 In Towards Participatory Forest Management in Laos. Laos Country Report 3. Hayama, Japan: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies; 4:8 43 Inoue M and Hyakumura K. Forest policy of Laos in terms of local participation. In A Step Toward a Forest Conservation Strategy (). Interim Report 998, Forest Conservation Project. Hayama, Japan: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies; 999:3 8 Kitamura N. Forest policy development in Laos. In Inoue M and Isozaki H (eds), People and Forest- Policy and Local Reality in Southeast Asia, the Russian Far East, and Japan. Dortrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 3:3 6 Nagata Y. Laos Village Information System (LAVIS) material. Osaka, Japan: Media Center of Osaka City University; Narayan D. Bonds and Bridges: Social Capital and Poverty. Washington, DC: Poverty Group, PREM, The World Bank; 999 National Office of Forestry Inventory and Planning. Forest Cover and Land Use in Lao P.D.R. Vientiane, Lao PDR: Lao-Swedish Forestry Co-operation Programme; 99 Oya K. Capacity Building for Collaborative Management: Lessons from Southeast Asia. In Proceedings of an International Seminar Community Forestry at a Crossroads: Reflections and future Directions in the Development of Community Forestry, RECOFTC REPORT No.6, Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand; 998:8 5 Pengsopha K and Morimoto T. Local forest management and strategies in Northern Laos following government intervention. I: Towards Participatory Forest Management in Laos Laos Country Report 3. Hayama, Japan: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies; 4: State Planning Committee, National Statistical Center. Basic Statistics of Lao P.D.R Vientiane, Lao PDR; Stuart-Fox M. Politics and Reform in the Lao People s Democratic Republic, Political Economy of Development Working Paper, Program of Civil Society and Government, The College of William and Mary, Australia; 4:43 pp. 4 International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology Z:\Sapiens Publishing\Sustainable Development\A549 - Sustain Dev & World Ecol - Feb 6.vp 4 February 6 3:45:8