Economic growth is threatening natural resources and biodiversity. Conservation in the Lancang-Mekong region is challenging due to conflicts between social and economic factors, and much of the population lives under the poverty line. With the region’s natural resources under threat of degradation, traditional knowledge and practices are of great merit in ecosystem management to support local livelihoods disrupted by rapid development. 

This report presents a collection of good practices and local/traditional knowledge within the Lancang- Mekong countries on ecosystem management and ecosystem-based sustainable livelihoods. It highlights typical and unique cases across a variety of social dimensions including indigenous peoples, gender, youth, traditional knowledge, religion, and private sector engagement. In total, this report contains six cases from different ecosystem types, including: sustainable bamboo resource management in China, rubber intercropping system in China, ecotourism development model for nature reserves in Cambodia, small-scale freshwater fisheries management in Lao PDR, forest conservation by Buddhist monks in Thailand, and mangrove protection in Vietnam. These successful cases are highlighted to encourage replication in other developing countries with similar ecological conditions and socioeconomic contexts and other areas within the Lancang-Mekong region. Research gaps, opportunities, and recommendations are also identified. 

This is a knowledge product prepared under the context of the project “Improving Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Livelihoods within the Framework of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation”, funded by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, through the China Trust Fund to UNEP.