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Socioeconomic Features
Introduction and Historical Context
Demographic and Social Trends
Human populations in the region are predominantly rural. The projected urban population figures in Table 4 show an increasing trend toward urban-based human societies. However, these figures are still among the lowest in the world for the percentage of total population living in urban environments; urban populations in developed countries typically comprise 60 to 80 percent of the total population. Regional population distribution is very uneven. For example, Vietnam's population shows marked concentrations in the Red River (approximately 1,000 people per km2) and Mekong Deltas (approximately 500 people per km2), with mountainous parts of the country being much more sparsely populated; southern China shows even more extreme variations. In the mid-1990s, approximately 83 percent of the population in Lao P.D.R. inhabited small villages in rural areas, with the only urban centers being along the Mekong River, with smaller towns on its major tributaries (National Statistics Centre 1997, Duckworth et al. 1999). Most protected areas in the region have significant human populations living and/or using resources within their boundaries (e.g. Robichaud et al. 2001).
Table 4. Demographic and Social Indicators for the Five Countries in Indochina
Indicator | Units | Period | Cambodia | China* | Lao P.D.R. | Thailand | Vietnam |
Total population | Millions | 2003 | 13.5 | 1,300 | 5.7 | 63.1 | 82 |
Annual population growth rate | % | 1975-2003 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
2003-15 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 1.2 | ||
Urban population | As % of total | 1975 | 10.3 | 17.4 | 11.1 | 23.8 | 18.9 |
2003 | 18.6 | 38.6 | 20.7 | 32 | 25.8 | ||
2015 | 26.1 | 49.5 | 27.4 | 36.7 | 32.4 | ||
Adult (age 15+) illiteracy rate | % | 2003 | 26.4 | 9.1 | 31.3 | 7.4 | 9.7 |
Indicator | Units | Period | Cambodia | China* | Lao P.D.R. | Thailand | Vietnam |
Population without sustainable access to improved water source | % | 2002 | 66 | 23 | 57 | 15 | 23 27 |
Population below income poverty line | % earning <$1 per day | 1990-2003 | 34.1 | 16.6 | 26.3 | <2 | 17.7 ND |
% earning <$2 per day | 1990-2003 | 77.7 | 46.7 | 73.2 | 32.5 | 63.7 ND | |
GDP per capita | $ | 2003 | 2,078 | 5,003 | 1,759 | 7,595 | 2,070 2,490 |
Overseas Development Assistance received | Total ($ millions) | 2003 | 508.0 | 1,324.6 | 298.6 | -956.3 | 1,768.6 |
$ per capita | 2003 | 37.9 | 1.0 | 52.8 | -15.6 | 21.8 | |
% of GDP | 2003 | 12.0 | 0.1 | 14.1 | -0.7 | 4.5 |
The two government institutions responsible for natural resources management are the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Environment (MoE). MoE is chiefly responsible for management of the 23 protected areas designated by Royal Decree in 1993, while MAFF is responsible for management of wildlife resources outside of these protected areas, including law enforcement, research and management of other biodiversity conservation areas. The two ministries share responsibility for the various international conventions and treaties to which Cambodia is party. The two offices specifically assigned to wildlife conservation are the Wildlife Protection Office of the Forest Administration of MAFF, and the Protected Areas Office of the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection (DNCP) of MoE (Seng Kim Hout et al. 2003). China
China's State Council, appointed by the National People's Congress, has ultimate responsibility for the country's environment. The State Council authorizes the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to coordinate and monitor the management of biodiversity conservation. SEPA's responsibilities include formulating laws, regulations, economic, and technical policies, compiling national programs and technical specifications, formulating management regulations and evaluation standards for nature reserves, and supervising the conservation of rare and threatened species. In addition, SEPA is responsible for the implementation and supervision of international environmental conventions, and represented the government in drafting and revising the CBD. However, responsibility for managing the majority of forests and other protected areas lies with the State Forestry Administration . Several other institutions also have biodiversity conservation responsibilities, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Previously, the State Environmental Protection Committee (SEPC) of the State Council, with representatives from various ministries, played an important coordinating role: examining and approving general principles and policies concerning environmental protection at the national level, and resolving any difficulties through consultations between relevant institutions. Central government restructuring, which led to the abolition of the SEPC in 1998, has been a loss for coordination and adjudication among agencies. One source of independent expert advice to the State Council in policy development and planning is the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), a high-level, nongovernmental consultative forum created in 1992 with the support of a grant from the Canadian Government. CCICED consists of senior Chinese officials and experts, together with high-profile international experts, with a variable number of working groups and task forces. Lao P.D.R.
The management of most forests in Lao P.D.R., including those designated as protected areas, is the responsibility of the Department of Forestry (DoF) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. At the central level, the key institution within DoF is the Division of Forest Resource Conservation, which was created in mid-1999 as part of a wide-ranging restructuring of central government, to improve efficiency and move central staff to assist provinces and districts. At local levels, forest management is the responsibility of Provincial and District Agriculture and Forestry Offices. Several other government institutions outside of DoF contribute to environmental management. The main one is the Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA) in the Office of the Prime Minister, which is mandated to provide broad inter-sectoral coordination and regulation, for which the adoption of a draft Environmental Protection Law will give it wide statutory powers. STEA is responsible for conducting environmental impact assessments, controlling commercial exploitation of biodiversity, and the implementation of international conventions relating to the environment. Its mandate to regulate research also requires a close relationship with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute. Other institutions, such as the Ministry of Defence, the Hydropower Office of the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, and the National Tourism Authority, are also integrally involved in or near protected areas (Robichaud et al. 2001). Thailand
Since 2002, management of the national protected area system has been the responsibility of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department of the newly established Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. This department was established from the former Royal Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Other bodies with environment-related remits include the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Agriculture, and the National Resources and Biodiversity Institute (NAREBI). NAREBI was established in 1998 to provide more flexibility in natural resources management policies and to reduce institutional overlap and duplication of efforts. The other main government institution involved in natural resources management is the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which is responsible for developing and coordinating national and international environmental plans and policies. A significant recent institutional development in Thailand was the establishment of the Thailand Biodiversity Centre in February 2000. This center is the secretariat of the National Biodiversity Board, functions as a clearinghouse for the CBD and supports research and programs relating to access to and sharing of benefits from biodiversity use. Vietnam
Responsibility for environmental management is divided among several central government institutions, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Ministry of Fisheries (MoFI), the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Of these institutions MARD has the main responsibility for forest management, with the Forest Protection Department (FPD) within MARD being responsible for developing the national protected area system and enforcing wildlife protection regulations. MONRE is responsible for international conventions related to the environment, including the CBD and the Ramsar Convention. Within MONRE, the National Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the development of a system of wetlands of national importance. Conservation of marine biodiversity is principally the responsibility of MoFI, although a number of marine and wetland sites are included in the national protected area system managed by FPD of MARD. In addition, there are a number of government research institutes whose work support biodiversity conservation and protected areas planning, including the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources of the National Centre for Science and Technology, and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute of MARD. Civil Society Frameworks
Organization | Cambodia | China (2) | Lao P.D.R. | Thailand | Vietnam |
BirdLife International (1) | + | + | + | + | + |
Conservation International | + | + | - | - | - |
Fauna & Flora International | + | + | - | - | + |
International Crane Foundation | + | + | - | - | + |
IUCN | + | + | + | + | + |
The Nature Conservancy | - | + | - | - | - |
TRAFFIC | + | + | - | - | + |
Wetlands International | + | + | - | + | - |
WildAid | + | - | - | + | - |
Wildlife Conservation Society | + | + | + | + | - |
WWF | + | + | + | + | + |
The development of civil society in Cambodia was interrupted by decades of armed conflict and political instability, which only subsided at the end of the 1990s with the establishment of UNTAC. Beginning in the UNTAC period, there has been a dramatic growth in the number of NGOs and level of donor investment in civil society. Of the large number of local NGOs that have been established in the country, only a small proportion are directly involved in biodiversity conservation, for example Save Cambodia's Wildlife, Mlup Baithong, and the Culture and Environmental Protection Association, although there also exists significant potential to engage local NGOs with a development agenda in biodiversity conservation. The large sums of donor assistance that have been made available to Cambodia in recent years have also facilitated the development of country programs by a large number of international conservation organizations, including BirdLife International, CI, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), International Crane Foundation (ICF), TRAFFIC, Wetlands International, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and WWF (Table 6). These organizations are typically better resourced, with higher capacity and larger programs than national NGOs. To date, a large proportion of conservation projects in Cambodia have been implemented by international conservation organizations in collaboration with government counterparts, although there is a growing trend of direct donor assistance to government institutions. China
Although restrictions exist on the development and operation of civil society organizations in China, there are a significant number of local NGOs and community-based organizations active in environmental protection and natural resources management. These include, for example, the China Energy Conservation Association, the China Environmental Protection Foundation, the China Green Foundation, the China Society for Environment and Science, the China Wildlife Conservation Association, and Friends of Nature. In many cases, these organizations have strong ties to government institutions, and do not have complete freedom of operation. A number of international conservation organizations are active in China, including CI, FFI, ICF, IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International and WWF (Table 6). To date, however, relatively few of these organizations have had significant active involvement in biodiversity conservation in the parts of Mainland China within Indochina. Local academic institutions, including research institutions and universities, represent an important sector of civil society in Mainland China. Institutions such as the Kunming Institutes of Zoology and Botany (both of CAS), Yunnan University, Yunnan Forestry Institute, Yunnan Social Science Institute, Zongshan University, and Qinghua University have made significant contributions to biodiversity conservation in Indochina, primarily through research and monitoring, although several institutions are also involved in raising public awareness of biodiversity conservation issues, and their potential in this area is substantial (Maxey and Lutz 1994). The situation in Hong Kong regarding the development of local civil society is substantially different from that in Mainland China. A number of local conservation NGOs have well-established programs in the territory, including WWF-Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society. In addition, one notable organization active in biodiversity conservation in Hong Kong is KFBG, which also has a program in those parts of Mainland China within Indochina. Lao P.D.R.
Within Indochina, Lao P.D.R. has the least amount of civil society engagement in biodiversity conservation. There is no legislative basis for the establishment of NGOs, hence civil society is largely restricted to international conservation organizations. However, for a number of reasons, including recent reduction in funding for conservation projects in Lao P.D.R. by a number of major donors, the number of international conservation organizations active in Lao P.D.R. is lower than that in any other country in the region (Table 6). In addition to international conservation organizations, a number of international development NGOs active in the natural resources sector are implementing projects that include biodiversity conservation among their objectives, for example Village Focus International. A number of academic institutions in Lao P.D.R. are beginning to become more actively involved in the implementation of biodiversity conservation projects, for example the National University of Lao P.D.R. As in China and Vietnam, academic institutions in Lao P.D.R. are government institutions and their activities tend to be restricted to areas such as research and environmental awareness. Thailand
Of the five countries in the region, Thailand has the longest history of local civil society involvement in conservation, dating back to the work of the Natural History Society of Siam to secure legal protection for rhinoceroses in the 1920s and including the efforts of the Association for the Conservation of Wildlife to promote the establishment and expansion of the national protected area system from the 1950s onward (P. P. van Dijk in litt. 2003). A defining moment in the development of the local conservation movement in Thailand was the dispute over the proposed construction of the Nam Choan hydropower dam within Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in the early 1980s. This proposal met with opposition from a broad-based coalition of civil society, including local communities, students and academics, environmental NGOs and representatives of the private sector. These events are now considered to have given birth to Thailand's "green movement," which has continued to develop and gain momentum since then (Carew-Reid 2002), particularly following the re-establishment of civilian rule in 1992. Today, local civil society is relatively well developed in Thailand, compared with many other countries in the region. There are a number of local NGOs active in biodiversity conservation, such as the Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand, the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST), the Hornbill Research Foundation, the Seub Nakhasthein Foundation, and Wildlife Fund Thailand. Other NGOs are addressing broader environmental agendas, such as air and water quality. The Green World Foundation, for instance, has a program to promote water-quality testing by local communities. Other NGOs are working with local communities on natural resources management and other initiatives with objectives that potentially overlap with those of biodiversity conservation. The capacity of local NGOs is growing in a number of areas, including public awareness, outreach to decisionmakers and engaging local stakeholders in conservation at the grassroots level. In addition, local NGOs are supporting networks of community-based organizations. For example, BCST coordinates the Bird Conservation Network of Thailand, a network of 32 local conservation groups. While some academic institutions in Thailand face limitations in terms of financial resources, staffing and technical capacity, others have high potential to engage in biodiversity conservation. Students and staff from various academic institutions conduct a significant amount of biodiversity research every year. A number of institutions are taking a more active role in on-the-ground conservation action. The Forestry Faculty of Kasetsart University, for example, has developed management plans for a number of protected areas in Thailand. A significant number of international conservation organizations are also active in Thailand. These include IUCN, WCS, Wetlands International, WildAid and WWF (Table 6). Many of these organizations have well-developed programs and are active in a number of areas, including building capacity of protected area managers and enforcement staff, raising awareness, and environmental education. Vietnam
Government policy in Vietnam is not strongly supportive of local NGO development. While some relatively high-capacity local NGOs are beginning to emerge, for example Education for Nature Vietnam, these are the exception rather than the rule and very few are actively engaged in biodiversity conservation. In the absence of well-developed, local civil society, international conservation organizations have assumed many of the roles performed by local NGOs in other countries, for example building capacity and raising awareness. International conservation organizations with country programs in Vietnam include BirdLife International, FFI, IUCN, TRAFFIC and WWF (Table 6). These organizations have made important contributions to biodiversity conservation in the region to date, by supporting and complementing the work of government institutions. There also exist in Vietnam a large number of quasi-NGOs, staffed by serving or retired government officers and operating semi-independently from government. A significant number of these organizations are involved in biodiversity conservation. These include, for example, the Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, which is developing a mechanism for protected area management at Dakrong Nature Reserve in Vietnam. As in many other countries in the region, a number of academic institutions are active in biodiversity conservation, particularly through research, although these organizations are not independent from government.