Biodiversity Landscapes and Livelihoods

The GMS Core Environment Program (CEP) has been working with China's Guangxi Environmental Protection Department (GEPD) since 2006 to pilot biodiversity conservation initiatives in the Sino-Viet Nam Transboundary Bi...

Environment officials from the six GMS countries met in Jinghong, PRC, to share biodiversity conservation experiences and to plan initiatives for increased cooperation in transboundary areas.

The GMS Core Environment Program has been working with China's Yunnan Environmental Protection Department (YEPD) since 2006 to pilot biodiversity conservation initiatives in the province.

Viet Nam is a country with rich biodiversity, possessing natural ecosystems from tropical jungles to dry forests, mountains, wetlands, and marine ecosystems. Forests cover 43% of the land and provide ecosystem goods and services that are essential to sustain the livelihoods of much of the population.

Local authorities, forest owners, and development partners met to initiate a new project to develop and test an M&E framework for payments for environmental services in Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue provinces.

The third and final workshop in CEP’s training module on integrating climate change adaptation into local planning focused on identifying and implementing adaptation options.

Senior environment and forestry officials from Yunnan and Guangxi met with representatives from the other five GMS countries to exchange experiences and lessons from biodiversity conservation work in transboundary landscapes.

This workshop will look at how Thailand's first biodiversity conservation corridor - in the Western Forest Complex - has made a difference to biodiversity and local livelihoods over the past decade. 

This training workshop was the second in a series of three that aim to build the capacity of government planners in the GMS to work with communities to integrate climate change adaptation into local level development planning.

Government officials from Cambodia and Thailand met to look at ways to increase biodiversity conservation cooperation in border areas of the Cardamom and Elephant Mountains landscape.

A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was tabled for discussion, outlinin...

Government officials from Thailand and Cambodia visited the Eastern Forest Complex to exchange experience on biodiversity conservation and to identify opportunities for collaboration in the Cardamon and Elephant Mountains landscape that straddles both countries. 

Specific objectives of the field visit were to:

• Discuss the establishment of a multi-sector policy and technical working group to plan and manage the Cardamom and Elephant Mountains TBL and collaboration mechanisms between relevant provinces in the two countries.
• To assess and identify the potential of a TBL management strategy, establishing biodiversity corridors, and to source investment opportunit...

Biodiversity corridors have been introduced in threatened tropical areas of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, with ADB support. The program is ensuring the survival of rare plant and animal species, while eco-farming practices provide local communities with sustainable livelihoods.

This workshop was the first in a series of three that aim to build the capacity of government planners in the GMS to work with communities to integrate climate change adaptation into local level development planning.

This film highlights the environmental challenges facing China's Southwestern province of Yunnan as well as ongoing efforts to protect the unique biodiversity in the province's Xishuangbanna prefecture.

This report was produced as a key input into the Government of Myanmar’s Ecotourism Policy and Management Strategy (2015-2025). It overviews the status of tourism and conservation issues in 22 pr...

This 2-day workshop brought together government and international organization representatives to share experiences, information, tools, and discuss collaborative opportunities to improve the sustainable management of important landscapes in the GMS.

With support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the GMS Core Environment Program is strengthening regional collaboration to manage key transboundary biodiversity landscapes in the GMS.

Government and development partners met in Kunming to discuss current work and future priorities to strengthen transboundary collaboration for the Mekong Headwaters transboundary landscape under the CEP-led GMS Forest and Biodiversity Regional Support Project.

This GMS Tourism Marketing Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2020 deliberately aligns with GMS member countries’ sharedobjectives to develop thematic multicountry tour programs and promotesecondary d...

Nestled in the central Hengduan Mountains of Yunnan Province and bordering Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region, Deqin County is the northernmost part of the Mekong Headwaters landscape.

This policy and management strategy was launched by the Government of Myanmar in May 2015 provides guidance on how the country can development ecotourism in protected areas to maximize social and econo...

The brief summarizes the current state of GMS knowledge and experience on ecosystem-based approaches. It draws upon work of the GMS Core Environment Program and partner institutions, including findings...

Myanmar Ecotourism Policy and Management Strategy intends to use ecotourism as a driving force to strengthen the management of Myanmar’s expanding protected areanetwork. It aims to engage all sta...

The final review meeting on PRC of Yunnan Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (YBSAP) was held in Kunming, Yunnan, PRC, from 6-8 November.

In recent years, there has been increased global recognition about the important socioeconomic contribution of ecosystem services for rural livelihoods and broader society. This has helped drive countries to make greater efforts to more sustainably manage their natural capital – forest, land, and water resources and related ecosystem services. 

More than 120 representatives from environmental protection authorities in Yunnan were trained on how to implement Yunnan Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (YBSAP). The training was organized by Yunnan Environmental Protection Department (YEPD) with support from ADB.

Rural communities throughout the world are seizing new opportunities to build livelihoods based on emerging niche markets that rely on and contribute to the sustainable management of natural resources. These include small, but growing markets for ecotourism and also non-timber forest products (NTFPs) including herbs, honey, and mushrooms, bamboo, rattan, medicines, and cosmetics.

Transboundary biodiversity landscapes in the GMS are rich in natural capital, but are increasingly under threat from development and climate change pressures, leading to environmental degradation and more vulnerable local communities.

This brief summarizes major achievements, challenges, and key recommendations from a review of Viet Nam’s payments for forest environmental services (PFES) program. Led by the Center for International Forestry Research and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with support from the GMS Core Environment Progra...

Since 2011, Viet Nam’s payments for forest environmental services (PFES) program has generated $140 million for rural households to protect around 4 million hectares (40%) of the country’s forests.

This publication features ADB's support to the provincial authorities of Quang Nam in Viet Nam to scale up the implementation of payments for forest environmental services through a technical assistance financed by the Governments of Sweden and Norway. The project pilot-tested two innovations—the group approach and the use of a geographic information system—to speed up payments for forest environmental services planning and implementation in the province. Starting with five villages in Ma Cooih commune, the initiative expanded to include two more communes in the Song Bung 4 watershed. 

This ADB video features coffee farmers in Viet Nam's Central Highlands joining in efforts to conserve forestland and biodiversity.

Tourism in Myanmar has boomed in recent years, with the industry generating nearly $1.8 billion in revenue in 2014 as international tourist arrivals hit the 3 million mark for the first time, nearly triple the number of arrivals in 2012. 

On 29–30 May, representatives from more than 13 countries, including from the GMS, met in Ha Noi, Viet Nam to exchange experiences and innovative ideas on how to integrate natural capital into development decisions.

ADB’s Sanath Ranawana (and CEP project officer) was a panelist at the Forests Asia Summit on May 6 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia. During the ‘Investing in Landscapes for Green Returns’ panel, he discussed the role of public financing to support environmentally friendly private sector investments in Asia’s landscapes (3:35–13:25).

Government and international organization representatives attended a two-meeting organized by EOC to explore collaboration opportunities for improving the management of Transboundary Biodiversity Landscapes (TBLs) in the GMS.

This three-day conference held in Chiang Rai was organized by the Asia-Pacific Adaptation Network to facilitate discussion and share lessons about climate change adaptation, resilience and urban biodiversity in Southeast Asia.

A workshop to synergize landscape and livelihood activities between CEP and the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors project (BCC) in the provinces of Quang Nam, T.T. Hue and Quang Tri was held in Hue, Viet Nam. The workshop, which included provincial and central government representatives, aimed to raise awareness about the biodiversity conservation pilot projects conducted during CEP Phase I and to discuss how planned activities under CEP Phase II can align with ongoing BCC work.

This animation produced by the James Hutton Institute explains why Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are attracting increasing interest as policy mechanisms to improve conservation and achieve sustainable development outcomes. PES initiatives aim to reach mutually beneficial agreements between providers and users of ecosystem services, entailing a reward mechanism for ecosystem managers for maintaining or improving the provision of the services valued by beneficiaries.

The Global Forum on Natural Capital was organized to attract business and sustainability leaders around the globe to discuss the value of natural assets (clean air, clean water, forests) and progress with factoring ...

The Core Environment Program (CEP) supported Viet Nam’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to host the regional workshop: “Mainstreaming ecosystem-based approaches to climate change into biodiversity conservation planning in Viet Nam.”

“Building up partnerships on green development transformation” was the main theme of the 2013 ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Forum, which was held in Guilin, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The video takes a look at the conservation of the Cao Vit gibbon, which was believed to survive only in one location in northern Viet Nam until, in 2006, three groups were discovered in adjacent forest in Guangxi Autonomous Province, China. The video was produced by Guangxi Environmental Protection Department and is in Chinese with English subtitles.

One of the major successes of CEP Phase I was the scaling up of its biodiversity conservation corridor pilot work.  In 2011, ADB approved grants and loans worth $69 million for Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam under a new project to further engage local communities in the sustainable management of important biodiversity landscapes.  

This biodiversity conservation corridor pilot area connects four protected areas in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. Covering 50,000 hectares, the area is rich in forest resources, and is also home to many regionally threatened mammals and birds.

This biodiversity conservation corridor pilot site in the southwest of Cambodia covers 936,522 hectares in three provinces. The area is rich in forest resources, and is also home to many regionally threatened mammals and birds.

This  pilot site aims to enhance biodiversity connectivity between Bangliang Nature Reserve in Jingxi County of Guangxi Province and the adjacent Trung Khanh Nature Resrve in Cao Bang Province, Viet Nam. The establishment of a transboundary biodiversity corridor, with a protected core zone and sustainable use zone with agriculture, will provide an optimal habitat for wildlife, as well as the co-existence of human beings.

This biodiversity conservation corridor pilot sire in the south of Lao PDR covers a 32,000 hectare strip of land in Champasak Province, between the Dong Hua Sao and Xe Pian national protected areas.

This biodiversity conservation corridor is located in the Tenasserim Range in western Thailand, between the Western Forest Complex and the Kaeng Krachan Complex. To the west, the corridor borders forested areas in Myanmar.

Biodiversity conservation corridors at this pilot site cover 130,827 hectares in Quang Nam and Quang Tri provinces. The corridors include part the Central Annamite mountains – ranked as a ‘critically important’ landscape due to the unique variety of species that inhabit this area.

The Xishuangbanna biodiversity conservation corridors pilot site is located in southern Yunnan and stretches down to the border with Lao PDR. Of the eight corridors identified, CEP has focused activities in two (Nabanhe to Mangao and Mengla to Shangyong), the latter of which includes a transboundary nature reserve that is home to a wild elephant population.

A report documenting the achievements of the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (BCI) from 2006-2011. It includes impacts and lessons learned, coverage of the eight pilot sites in Cambodia,...

A publication on the Tenassarim Corridor produced in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Thailand’s National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department. The repor...

The forest of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nurture a remarkable biodiversity and provide resources vital to human welfare and the region's economic prosperity. But these same forests are fragmenting and disappearing under pressure from rapid economic development, land conversion, and overuse.

The forest of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nurture a remarkable biodiversity and provide resources vital to human welfare and the region's economic prosperity. But these same forests are fragmenting and disappearing under pressure from rapid economic development, land conversion, and overuse.

The forest of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nurture a remarkable biodiversity and provide resources vital to human welfare and the region's economic prosperity. But these same forests are fragmenting and disappearing under pressure from rapid economic development, land conversion, and overuse.

The forest of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nurture a remarkable biodiversity and provide resources vital to human welfare and the region's economic prosperity. But these same forests are fragmenting and disappearing under pressure from rapid economic development, land conversion, and overuse.

The forest of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nurture a remarkable biodiversity and provide resources vital to human welfare and the region's economic prosperity. But these same forests are fragmenting and disappearing under pressure from rapid economic development, land conversion, and overuse.

The forest of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) nurture a remarkable biodiversity and provide resources vital to human welfare and the region's economic prosperity. But these same forests are fragmenting and disappearing under pressure from rapid economic development, land conversion, and overuse.

A 2007 status report on six pilot sites of the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (BCI) implemented by the Core Environment Program (CEP). The report covers background information on each o...

A summary of the proceedings for the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (BCI) International Symposium held in Bangkok, Thailand, 27–28 April 2006. Implementers and practitioners of bi...

This CEP publication outlines the ADB’s 10-year program plan for the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (2005-2014).  It provides an overview of the BCI program in the Greater Me...