Part 1 – A Rapid Participatory Biodiversity Assessment - IUCN

differences and similarities among groups of varying ethnicity. Agricultural data is thin,
especially in Salavan. The inability for this review to source earlier agricultural statistics
has prevented trend analysis.
• Anthropological studies of ethnic groups - ethnographic research is seriously lacking for
the Mon-Khmer groups of the south. Increasingly, aspects of social science are being
used to understand the situation of poverty and environment in some projects. A sociocultural
survey of Vilabouri district in Savannakhet carried out by LXML has not been
publicly released.
• Information on Samoi – in general, information on Samoi District is very limited.
Information was hard to obtain even when teams went down to perform field components
of this assessment.
1.3.2 Field Assessment and Data Analysis
To ensure a representative and integrated social/biodiversity approach, the field methodology placed
an emphasis on fewer but more detailed and in-depth engagements with local villages. A four step
information gathering and analysis process was adopted which included:
1. Village selection based on representative landscapes, representative ethnicities, Burapha
plantation areas of interest and accessibility
2. Assembly of a multi-disciplinary assessment team including representatives from provincial and
district government
3. Village consultation including village focal group meetings, representative landscape transect
walks and a village debrief to gain an insight into villagers perceptions of the positive and
negative impacts of plantations
4. Data compilation and analysis was then conducted using a number of tools including village
information sheets; landscapes and livelihood assessments; species list consolidation; mapping
and GPS and photos taken of the area.
1.3.3 Final Stakeholder Consultations
A final stakeholder consultation meeting will be held in Savannakhet to share the results of this
biodiversity assessment with government and community representatives.
1.3.4 Methodology Limitations
The RPBA methodology allowed assessment teams to cover a large area in a very short time period
and to make informed judgements about the use, state, trends and threats to biodiversity in the study
area. The RPBA by its very nature does not allow for a comprehensive scientific study of the
intricacies of biodiversity and its importance to people in the study area.
In addition to this overarching limitation, the following constraints and limitations that may have
impacted data gathering should be noted:
• Weather and road conditions limited district representation at the Salavan stakeholders
meeting.
• The Savannakhet stakeholder meeting was held in Sepon to make it most accessible for
district officials and local stakeholders. As a result, representation from the provincial level
was minimal – especially from the civil society working in the area.
• Information on the assessment area is limited and dispersed across a number of
organisations. Remoteness, of the area seems be a critical factor in the limited information
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