Unusual partnerships : lessons for landscapes and livelihoods from the Doe Mae Salong landscape, Thailand

The Doi Mae Salong watershed in the north-west of Thailand is the headwater of the Mae Chan River, a tributary of the Mekong River. As such, it is an extremely important landscape for the economy of the region. The landscape has the particularity of being designated a Military Reserved Area and coming under the control and command of the Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTAF). Poor and unsustainable agricultural practices, forest encroachment, and a lack of understanding of the impacts of activities on the watershed further downstream had resulted in the landscape being severely degraded. This was exacerbated by poverty among significant portions of the population and lack of certainty among communities surrounding land-use and access rights. The RTAF decided to implement a programme of forest landscape restoration. However, this resulted in tension with the local populations – largely Hill Tribes – surrounding competing land uses. In the response, the RTAF, to its credit, rather than persisting with its efforts sought the assistance of IUCN. As a result, Doi Mae Salong became an LLS landscape. This paper describes the interventions undertaken as part of efforts to restore the landscape and improve the livelihoods of the communities that inhabit it.