Reducing Conflict, Enhancing Preparedness for Climate Change: Participatory Landscape Planning in Laos
The landscape of Lao PDR’s Northern uplands has real beauty, especially towards the end of the year when the skies are clear, the upland rice harvest is completed, and the forest is still green from the summer rains. Seen from a distance, the hills appear as a patchwork of different colors with very few settlements in sight. This is deceptive, since many people—mainly belonging to ethnic minorities such as Kmu, Hmong, Phunoy and Tai Leu—survive on this land, and pressure on it for competing uses is increasing. It is important to manage the landscape in a manner that is as sustainable and equitable as possible.
Participatory Forest and Agriculture Land Use Planning, Allocation and Management (PFALUPAM)
In the center of the village of Hadan stands a notice board showing two maps. One map shows the allocation of different land uses over the village territory. Small symbols or roman letters overlying the different colors aid interpretation. For example, pale brown overlaid with a symbol of a cow is land reserved for livestock grazing, whilst forest is indicated in dark green overlaid by a tree symbol.
The map to the right, at a slightly larger scale, specifically marks the areas on which different non-timber forest products (NTFPs) can be harvested—largely as determined by the suitability of the land for their growth. Ribbons of light green along streams, for example, mark areas on which cardamon (mainly Amomum xanthoides) is cultivated, while a large block of dark green indicates an area suitable for harvesting red mushrooms (Russula sp). A smaller patch of brighter green is bamboo forest, where bamboo shoots are harvested, and an area of orange is allocated to broom grass (the name says it all: brooms are made from the flower heads of this large grass, Thysanolaena latifolia. Their sale is a significant business). An earlier blog provides more information on these different products.
The land use maps have been prepared as part of activities under the Helvetas project PHOLIN, Phongsaly Livelihoods and NTFPs, which is funded by several donors, including the Happel Foundation. Hadan lies in Khoua district of Phongsaly province and is one of 44 villages that will be supported through the project in its second phase from 2025 – 2028.
The PFALUPAM process is one highly familiar to the staff of the District Agriculture and Forest Office (DAFO) who provide technical support. The approach was designed with support from multiple donors and adopted by the Lao government more than twelve years ago. The government’s intention is to apply it across the entire country, but it is a time-consuming (and thus expensive) process, so progress has been somewhat slow and older maps already need revising.
The village head of Hadan, Pinkam Phongdasaeng, explains that the mapping exercise in their village was completed last year. Village representatives joined the DAFO staff in visiting the village territorial boundaries, recording the important areas from which NTFPs are collected and then discussing how land should be allocated. Some land, such as the cardamom plots and the areas allocated for shifting agriculture (notably upland rice) are considered private (although titles have not been issued). Other lands, such as the red mushroom forest, are considered community land. The area available for shifting cultivation has been reduced to five plots that will be rotated; he says this restriction is necessary as the income from red mushroom harvesting is so significant that everyone agrees that the forest in which they grow should be preserved.
Keeping the peace
In a meeting in the DAFO office in another district, that of Namor in the neighboring province of Oudomxay, the Director General, Chanthy Inthavong, tells us that through donor support the PFALUPAM process was already completed in all villages in his district in 2008. However, since that time, there have been many changes. The population is increasing, as is Chinese demand for commercial crops. Perhaps more importantly, the government has a policy of bringing remotely located villages together to make small towns. This necessitates a re-thinking of land use zoning. Whatever one thinks about village relocation, it is a fact that once it is done, the people concerned must live with the consequences. This can provoke conflicts over land.
In village visits for the project Lao Upland Rural Advisory Services (LURAS) we heard numerous requests for a revision of older land use plans. LURAS is a Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) project implemented by Helvetas in partnership with the Lao government Department for Agriculture Extension and Cooperatives.
In the exceptionally long-established Leu village of Namngeun, for example, the older generation told us that they face a conflict with the younger generation who wish to expand slash and burn cultivation into areas of conservation forest. The older generation understand the need of young people to gain a livelihood. They want them to stay in the village. At the same time, they fear the consequences of clearing more forest. This is typically an issue that requires external mediation in the participatory manner foreseen under the PFALUPAM process.
Climate change preparedness
Under the LURAS project, a process of Climate Resilient Extension Development (CRED) is being piloted in 38 villages in 13 districts across four provinces. It is anchored in a participatory mindset of discussing livelihood changes with farmers, identifying key problems and then potential solutions—which the farmers prioritize by voting. Typically, farmers identify problems with water—too little (drought and drinking water shortages in the dry season) or too much (causing flash floods and landslides); a growing prevalence of agricultural pests and livestock diseases; and an interest in off-season vegetables as a source of income.
In a rather classic difference of interests, women tend to be more concerned about drinking water and food crops; men with livestock and rubber plantations. To date, the analysis has focused on immediate problems, but longer-term planning for the next 10, 20 or 30 years also needs to be integrated, especially since climate change projections for northern Laos are severe. Of special concern are projections of an increased frequency of extreme weather events causing very high levels of water runoff and water discharge—in other words, a high risk of landslides and floods. We see considerable potential in land use planning as a tool to discuss such future scenarios and ways to factor them into planning. Revisiting the PFALUPAM process (without repeating it in its entirety) represents a means to assess the implications of such future climate scenarios across the entire landscape—and to determine suitable responses.
About the Authors
Jane Carter is Helvetas’ Senior Advisor for Natural Resource Governance.
Khamkone Nanthepa is Helvetas Laos’ Provincial Advisor and the head of the LURAS field office.
Pheang Xaydongvanh is the PHOLIN Project Manager at Helvetas Laos.
