Part 1 – A Rapid Participatory Biodiversity Assessment - IUCN

Mr. Daokham
IUCN Rapid Participatory Biodiversity Assessment
Management Division, LMNA
Mr. Bounxoth Vongvilayvone Faculty of Social Sciences,
NUoL
Mr. Khamphone Sengdala
NTFP Research Section,
Forestry Research Center,
NAFRI,
GIS
Field Specialist: Anthropologist
Field Specialist: NTFP
From this mix, field assessment teams were assembled, each with a similar mix of specialists and
skill sets. Where one team was lacking specific expertise (eg, the absence of a qualified NTFP
expert), this gap was filled by selecting appropriate local government representatives or by using
methods to ensure that data is was collected and then assessed by relevant specialist at a later
date (ie, taking photos or collecting specimens of NTFPS for identification at a later stage).
Each team was accompanied by:
• 1 provincial government representative
• Between 2 and 3 district government representative
• Community members (or key informants) and an assistant to the key informant group
who could help with language translation
Village consultation and transect observations
In order to test previously gathered information and to source new primary information each team
carried out the following steps in the selected villages:
• Village Focal Group Meetings were held with the village headman and selected village
representatives including village elders, workers, women and youth. Meetings consisted
of semi structured discussions and a village mapping exercise to gather socio-economic
data and information about biodiversity and village landscapes. Species lists and
identification charts were used in some instances although not by all teams.
• Transect walks based on information gathered through the initial discussion and mapping
exercise, were organised with men and women with good knowledge of the village
landscape. Before setting out the team and local representatives chose routes that best
covered representative village habitats (village, fallow land, sacred forests etc). During
the walks, discussions with villagers continued. At random points along the transect the
team stopped at specific points to record:
o Description of habitat
o Plant observation and identification 6
o Stories about the area (previous uses, events, areas of cultural/spiritual significance
etc)
• A village debrief was conducted at the completion of the transect walk to discuss and
clarify any outstanding questions or issues about the village. At this point assessment
team leaders conducted discussions on the proposed plantation to source villages’ initial
concerns and expectations of such developments.
Data compilation and analysis
Information collected from the initial scoping consultations, secondary review and the main field
missions was then consolidated and analysed.
6 In fallow and village use forest some teams conducted 3m x 3m (fallow) and 5m x 5m (village use forest) plot
assessments counting number of species and recording info on their size etc. General observation of abundance using a
measuring system from 1 -5 (5 being very abundant) can also be used at other times.
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