Communities are concerned, however, that indiscriminate harvesting of resources and the declining water quantity and quality, are endangering their biggest “grocery” – their natural resources. People would show empty pesticide containers used in rubber plantations while describing the deteriorating water quality in the river basin or point to the eroding river banks lined with garbage from nearby restaurants.

“It is worse during the summer when the contaminated water is not being flushed and you see dead fishes floating,” says one community member in Xedone.

These are only some of the stories told by village members in Xedone River Basin when asked to describe the status of their resources. Saravane, Sekong and Champasack are the three provinces within the Xedone River Basin, a site previously identified for SDS-SEA implementation in Lao PDR. The implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), is therefore hoped to fill in the need for an integrated river basin management where concerns across sectors and provinces will be taken into consideration.

Building Capacities

An eight-day training workshop aimed at providing the participants with basic knowledge and skills on rapid appraisal was facilitated by the PEMSEA Regional Task Force from 5-14 November. The workshop was attended by the members of the Project Management Team consisting of key agency representatives from Champasack, Saravane and Sekong and the WRCCS. On-site application of rapid appraisal technique and methods were organized to enable participants to apply newly acquired skills and better understand community problems.

“It is important to involve the villages and provinces at this time because they will be the ones involved in implementing the project in their respective provinces. They have to appreciate the importance of what we are doing to build stronger project ownership,” Mr. Souphasay Komany of the WRCCS expressed during the training workshop.

Consultations through focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted in 14 selected villages to determine socioeconomic, political and environmental issues in the Xedone River Basin. This was done to build the confidence of the PMT members in identifying strategies for integrated river basin management.

Results revealed the urgent need for a comprehensive river basin management plan that would integrate socioeconomic, environmental and policy planning that would cover the upstream (Saravane) and downstream (Champasack and Sekong) provinces. The deteriorating quality of resources in Xedone is also caused by limited awareness among stakeholders, hampering the formulation and effective implementation for local policies. This is compounded by the limited data and information on the Xedone River Basin and the poor coordination among the provinces to address these concerns. Add to these is the poor monitoring of activities in the river basin. Access to market among communities limits opportunities to improve household conditions and access to other basic services like health and education facilities. At the village level, collective action is also difficult to pursue as some villages are still not organized.

No stopping at problems

Following the results of community consultations, the PMT identified key strategies by which priority concerns will be addressed under the Xedone Integrated River Basin Management Project (XIRBMP). These include the development of a Xedone Integrated River Basin Management Strategy that will serve as the blueprint for the river basin and will be used for leveraging support from other organizations, sectors and government agencies. While the provinces have existing development plans, the strategy will be the first integrated plan for the river basin.

Massive public awareness program will be a major component of the project to strengthen support among the public officials and communities in urban centers. The implementation of strategic action programs that address solid waste and sanitation facilities and fishery resource management at the community level are also of primary importance. Capacity building will also be done through learning-by-doing approach to strengthen the local implementers’ skills in development and management of projects.

An Inception Workshop followed the community consultations and participated in by 30 local and national officials. This was conducted to verify the results of the community consultations. Participants identified other activities for the development of a work program including a more scientific process of data gathering for water quality monitoring in the river basin, strengthening the fishery management component, establishment of information management center and strict policy enforcement for forest resources. Upon discussion and comments by the provinces, the three-year draft work program for the XIRBMP was adopted in principle by the three provinces. This will have to be further considered by the local authorities for formal adoption.

It was clarified during the Inception Workshop that the three provinces, Champasack, Saravane and Sekong will be the primary implementers with the WRCCS and PEMSEA providing guidance and technical support. As part of the institutional arrangement, the Province of Champasack was identified as host of the Project Coordinating Office providing logistics and staffing support to the program. The two provinces further signified support to assign at least two staff each to manage and coordinate activities within their provinces.

The development of the work program is part of a series of consultations for the implementation of the SDS-SEA in Lao PDR. In April of this year, an initial round of discussion was conducted with the key agencies of Saravane and Champasack.