FOREST DEGRADATION IN NORTHERN LAO PDR: AN ASSESSMENT IN MONITORING OPTIONS AND CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS IN HOUAPHANH PROVINCE

摘要: Globally, there are very few examples of operational monitoring systems designed to detect forest degradation. This is largely because the technical issues involved in the design and setup of such systems need extensive input from a wide variety of specialists and policy makers. These inputs need to include establishing clear monitoring objectives, a baseline from which to assess change and plans for data collection, analysis, and reporting. In tropical countries, the research and development needed as inputs into the technical design is lacking, as are consistent definitions on which to base monitoring protocols.The United States Agency for International Development/Regional Development Mission for Asia’s program called Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) is addressing these issues by requesting the United States Forest Service to design and implement an options assessment that may be used to guide development of monitoring strategies with its country partners in Southeast Asia. USFS carried out 3, one month long assessments in Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Cambodia in the first half of 2012. The scale and intensity of the direct and indirect drivers of forest degradation are similar in some cases however not in all. However, regional experience and knowledge of forest degradation drivers can lead to further clarity on monitoring options as a larger body of information is established. This assessment is one step in identifying regional characteristics of forest degradation drivers, capacities to monitor degradation, and the similarities and differences of potential monitoring approaches.