Participatory and Integrated Research in Mountainous Regions of Thailand and Vietnam:Approaches and Lessons Learned

Participatory and integrated research approaches employed by a long-term Thai- Vietnamese-German collaborative research program, ‘The Uplands Program’, that address the vicious circles of resource scarcity, environmental degrada- tion and rural poverty in mountainous regions of northern Thailand and northern Vietnam are discussed in this paper. We present two examples from the Thai component of the research program to show how different disciplines and stakeholders need to cooperate at different scales to make meaningful scientific contributions towards sustainable land use and rural development in mountainous regions. The case of resource conservation in the Thai highlands shows that local and scientific knowledge, conven- tional surveys and participatory modeling can be creatively combined. Integrated research on the potential of integrating fruit trees and associated technologies into mountain farming systems suggests that natural scientists have to work alongsideeconomists and social scientists to avoid harmful effects of purely technology-driven and productivity- enhancing approaches. The success of new technologies cannot be measured solely by adoption rates and yield increases, but also needs to take into account their long-term impact on various groups of farmers and the ecological, economic and social trade-offs that they entail. Technical and institutional innovations need to go hand in hand to provide viable livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmers in mountain watersheds. The major lesson learned from the first six years of our research in the mountains of Thailand and Vietnam is that conventional and participatory approaches are not antagonistic; if scientists from various disciplines and research paradigms are open-minded, the combination of both approaches can produce meaningful results that cater for the needs of both the academic community and local stakeholders in mountain environments.

Lessons Learned and Future Challenges for Integrated and Participatory Approaches to Mountain Research——Conclusions from the Mountain Symposium and this Special Issue

The International Symposium ‘Towards Sustainable Livelihoods and Ecosystems in Mountainous Regions＇, held in Chiang Mai from 7-9 March 2006 （hereafter referred to as ‘Mountain Symposium＇）, brought together a wealth of experience from mountain research and development in four continents. Some of its highlights are presented in this Special Issue. If one were to choose a ＇leitmotif that would best capture the present state of knowledge in mountain research, it would be recognizing heterogeneity, complexity, interdependency, and learning how to deal with it. We are in the middle of a learning process and it is important to remember Rod Lefroy＇s statement in the panel discussion of the Mountain Symposium： ＂perfection is the enemy of progress＂ （Lefroy 2006）.

Integrated and Participatory Research Approaches towards Sustainable Livelihoods and Ecosystems in Mountainous Regions

Mountainous regions cover about 27 per cent of the world＇s land surface and are home to some 22 per cent of the global population （UNEP 2002）. A much greater number of people depend on mountain environments for a wide range of services, including clean water, energy, timber, biodiversity, recreation, and protection from environmental hazards, such as landslides and floods. At the same time, mountain areas are extremely vulnerable ecosystems and under continuous threat of environmental degradation due to such diverse factors as climate change, extraction of their rich natural resources, high population pressure, and insecure and inequitable resource ownership. Mountain people are often among the most marginalized groups in society. Political and social discrimination is largely accompanied by pervasive poverty and food insecurity. A recent FAO study on vulnerability in mountains found that as many as 245 million people in the mountains of developing and transition countries are at risk of, or actually suffering from hunger and food insecurity （Diouf 2006）. At the same time, mountain areas are major sources and production areas of narcotic plants, such as opium poppy in Afghanistan and Myanmar, qat in Yemen and Ethiopia, and coca in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The remoteness and frequent position of mountain regions along disputed political and ethnic borders also make them more prone to armed conflict. It was estimated that between 1946 and 2ool, around 41 per cent of mountainous areas experienced violent conflicts compared to 26 per cent of non-mountain regions （UNEP 2002）. On the other hand, mountainous regions are treasures of biological and agricultural diversity. Perhaps no other life zone contains such high degree of variation between habitats and ecosystems as mountains （Denniston 1995）. Genetic diversity in agricultural resources also tends to be higher in mountainous regions than in the lowlands, largely due to ethnic and cultural diversity and the extreme micro-variability of environmental conditions. Mountain communities in the Andes region are reported to conserve more than 150 distinct potato varieties, while highland farmers in Central Africa cultivate mixtures of 30 bean varieties simultaneously （UNEP 2002）.

A New Guiding Framework for Engaging Diverse Populations in Disaster Risk Reduction: Reach, Relevance, Receptiveness,and Relationships

In urban environments characterized by rich diversity across language, migration status, demographic profiles, and usage of different forms of media, there can be significant challenges to ensuring that particular disaster risk reduction(DRR) communications reach those potentially affected. This article presents a study with 20 Pacific Island community leaders and connectors about their communities' perspectives and anticipated responses to natural hazards in Auckland, New Zealand. Home to the largest population of Pacific people in the world, Auckland provides the basis for understanding the complexities of delivering disaster information across numerous community groups. The rich cultural and linguistic backgrounds of multiple Pacific communities living in this city highlight the need to consider the complexities of disaster messaging related to natural hazards. In particular, the article forwards the importance of incorporating the guiding concepts of reach, relevance, receptiveness, and relationships into a DRR approach with culturally and linguistically diverse groups. These concepts are presented as an embedded guiding framework that can helpfully inform disaster communication.

“Listening to the Sounds of the Water”:Bringing Together Local Knowledge and Biophysical Data to Understand Climate-Related Hazard Dynamics

Integrating local knowledge and scientific information can aid in co-developing locally relevant approaches for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.Communities along the Mekong River have adapted to variability in temperature,rainfall,and flooding patterns over time.Rapid environmental change in the Mekong Basin presents a new set of challenges related to drought,altered seasonal rainfall,more frequent high-flow flood events,and water withdrawals for hydropower and irrigation.We present a multi-method approach to understand how local knowledge of the spatial and temporalpatterns of floods,droughts,and rainfall can be integrated with scientific information along a flood-prone section of the lower Mekong River in Kratie Province,Cambodia.Participatory hazard mapping of community members’knowledge of the movement of floodwaters through the landscape enabled interpretation of flood extent mapping using Synthetic Aperture Radar images from the Sentinel-1A satellite.Seasonal calendars of weather patterns and livelihood activities,together with local indicators of flooding,rainfall,and drought were compared with trends in 35 years of rainfall data,and highlighted"pressure points"at the beginning and end of the rainy season where agriculture may be particularly impacted by climate change.We discuss potential applications of our findings for adaptation and hazard planning.