Land management

The Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy (LLS) was a five-year program implemented by IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) and funded by DGIS (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands). The Strategy focused on four main themes: poverty reduction, natural resource-based markets and incentives, forest governance, and landscape transformation. LLS, originally set to finish in December 2010, was granted a no-cost extension and came to a close in December 2011.

It is commonly claimed that forest tenure reform that provides rural people with rights to access and use of forest resources can contribute to improved forest management and poverty alleviation. But, at least with respect to poverty alleviation, there are few experiences with formal forest tenure reform that have demonstrated this to date. Given how difficult it is to achieve pro-poor tenure reform, an important question is whether modest informal changes can achieve results.

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).

This publication is intended to raise awareness amongst all stakeholders and galvanise wider action to boost drylands conservation and development. The book is designed to inform and remind us of the beauty of dryland biodiversity and its intrinsic and instrumental value. It demonstrates the mutual dependency of dryland biological and cultural diversity.