Regardless of their regional importance, the ecosystems of the Lancang-Mekong region face a large number of anthropogenic pressures that threaten their capacity to provide goods and services. The region has undergone extensive deforestation in past decades, which has reduced the supply of important ecosystem goods and services to poor communities. Given that the economies of the Lancang-Mekong countries are highly dependent on the goods and services provided by their forests, wetlands, farmlands, and other ecosystems, along with exacerbated challenges brought by climate change, integrated ecosystem management has become an urgent task and all the countries recognise this fact, as reflected in several regional cooperation mechanisms. As such, the governments have provided funding on this topic, to various extents. Moreover, there are a number of funding sources that can finance activities related to integrated ecosystem management, including from private sector.

To guide potential project developers and practitioners in the field related to integrated ecosystem management in seeking funding sources for their activities, this publication has an overall aim to present a compilation of existing mechanisms to finance integrated ecosystem management in the Lancang-Mekong region. At its core are the three comprehensive most-up-to-date lists, with essential details (overall descriptions and application guidelines), of relevant financial mechanisms applicable for the Lancang-Mekong region from the public sector, private sector and public-private partnership. Specific example of each type is also given in case studies, as well as key observations in the concluding chapter.

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.