Part 1 – A Rapid Participatory Biodiversity Assessment - IUCN

9 Intercropping
10 Community
development
Source: Burapha Group 2007
IUCN Rapid Participatory Biodiversity Assessment
company and the village will make a work plan together so the villagers can
continue with their normal shifting cultivation, and to be able to work for the
company. The company will pay the villagers for all types of work in the
plantation, but NOT for planting rice or other agricultural crops in between the
planting rows.
The villagers will be able to use up to 70 % of the cleared land for growing rice
or other agricultural crops between the planting rows. All rice or crops will
belong to the villagers, NOT the company.
The company will give each family 1 ha (of the land that is used for plantation),
where the family can grow crops or rice between the rows. After the harvest of
the rice or agricultural crops, area can be used for grazing cows, buffalos and
goats.
The company sets itself as a goal to improve the quality of life of the people in
its project villages. The company will work with the villages to:
• Establish a village development fund
• Conduct a village needs assessment
• Establish a small business development fund
The Stora Enso Laos Plantation Management Model document outlines some basic principles and
processes intended to ensure the sustainability of the project. One the social side, the document
includes sections on ensuring community participation and distribution of benefits from land. The
targets of this particular agroforestry plantation model are food security for local villagers, additional
income and minimizing slash and burn impact on the rest of the village land.
The Land Acquisition section lays out a bottom-up process of steps through which the project will
interact with local stakeholders in gaining access to land. The Plantation establishment and
management section defines the technical processes to guide the planning and management of the
plantation plots. Principles governing the plantation establishment process are elaborated at the
landscape, block, village cluster and compartment levels.
If implemented fully, these principles should provide some degree of safeguarding for local
biodiversity and the people that depend upon it. However, the degree of detail in the Plantation Model
document is rather low, and more specific guidelines for the implementation and monitoring of each
step should be elaborated, in conjunction with local stakeholders. The indicators of implementation
success should be based on a more detailed understanding of the local conditions.
The IUCN Rapid Participatory Biodiversity Assessment does not make conclusions on the material
presented in the Plantation model, as a more detailed assessment should be made in the full ESIA.
However, findings from this biodiversity assessment are certainly relevant to consideration of how
safeguards might be implemented and monitored, and should inform the ESIAs recommendations.
During the course of the RPBA the IUCN team has interacted with many of the company’s
stakeholders and has been able to make some important observations about how the plantation
process described above is currently being implemented. The following recommendations identify
areas where this process could be strengthened and set the scene for more specific
recommendations about how the company can manage and monitor the projects impacts on local
biodiversity and ensure the enhancement of livelihoods in and around project sites. Specific steps for
monitoring and adjustment of the process should be added to the above general project blueprint,
and should be stressed with local officials and people so that they understand that there is room for
change based on feedback mechanisms.
It is recommended that Burapha/Stora Enso:
Process R5.1.1: Better engage provincial and district government officials to inform them
about the details of the project and gain their support in linking the project to local
development goals.
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