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| Conclusion and recommendations
but be part of the decisions concerning its sustainable management. Local
people should be given more rights to collect and use forest products, through
a negotiation process. Viewing the local people as part of the solution for
conserving Phong Dien Nature Reserve is not yet an option for the government
but they could help keep poachers away from the reserve. There should be an
agreement on the possibility to access the forest, even that inside the nature
reserve, during hard times (drought or flood) to collect some important forest
products.
10.2.4. Economic incentives
• The danger of the new economic and subsistence activities (plantations, rice
farming) is that they keep people away from more-traditional activities. Even
if the Pahy society is changing, preserving its traditional roots and its bases
should be an important condition in any attempt of integration into other
economic systems.
• Decisions should be made on the diversification of agricultural practices
(aquaculture, etc.). The profitability of plantations depends on market
fluctuation and they should not be taken as the sole alternative to shifting
cultivation and extractive activities in the forest.
• The current new economic activities (especially plantations) are unsecured.
Since most of the land around the village has been converted, few options are
left to villagers in case of an economic crisis.
10.2.5. Cultural identity and local knowledge
• The political process of integration of the Pahy minority group into the
lowland way of life carries the danger of loss of cultural identity. Even if the
integration of other ethnic groups into Pahy society is a slow process, these
communities bring with them new behaviours, new activities and relationships
with the local government.
• Emphasis should be placed on tapping the existing (remaining) local
knowledge of the village community. More studies should be implemented to
collect information on local skills, and the traditional knowledge should be
sustained.
• Further research on the sustainability of NTFP collection is necessary, as an
option for sustainable use of forest resources. Most of the natural vegetation
in Khe Tran is disturbed forest or shrub lands, and the impacts of floods and
fires continue to influence forest cover and structure.