The ADB-MFU Project on Capacity Building for Natural Resources Management and Socio-economic Benchmarking in the GMS

MFU along with its university network will undertake research on “socio-economic benchmarking” and “integrated landuse planning and management” carried out by graduate students who will be supervised by in-country academic supervisors housed at Royal University of Phnom Penh, Yunnan Agricultural University, Khon Kaen University, National University of Laos, and Vietnam National University-HCMC, as well as at Mae Fah Luang University

MFU will take the lead in design and management of data collection and research methodology framework for the project with a focus on “socio-economic and livelihood” and “land-use” that would be conducted by in-country field surveys, then analyzed and synthesized for livelihood and landuse studies by developing models to identify and recommend “effective interventions” for “livelihood improvement” and “improved landuse and forest management”, in the context of GMS biodiversity corridor conservation objectives, staring with typical pilot sites in GMS countries. This will serve as the foundation of a long-term process of developing intellectual capacity for research and analysis rooted in the GMS.

Poverty reduction (with a focus on socio-economic benchmarking)

Integrated landuse planning and management (with a focus on modeling and interventions for improvement)

Capacity building (from regional to national and local level) for management of natural resources and the environment (landuse, biodiversity, and livelihoods)

For this project, MFU provides a Project Manager to manage the whole project, and a Specialist-cum-trainer in each area of socio-economic study and of integrated landuse planning and management with the aim to standardize methodologies and synthesize field studies from each country and study in those areas, and then to conduct training for trainers in each country. Each country through university members provides an Academic Supervisor and a number of graduate students to implement the project in its own country. The Academic Supervisor will supervise their students in terms of research and training activities.

Orientation workshops organized, methodology report ready, socio-economic benchmarking completed, and interventions identified for improving livelihoods and conserving biodiversity

Number of persons who receive training at different levels (including gradate degree levels) through MFU and GMS/UniNet on NREM

Study results completed and harmonized for each GMS country and synthesized across GMS countries

Data collection, updating, analysis and modeling for identifying effective solutions and means to improve livelihoods and conserving biodiversity corridors in the GMS, based on representative sites in all GMS countries, and through integrated landuse planning and management approaches coupled with capacity building activities.

Capacity building for the GMS in natural resources management in the context of biodiversity conservation through creating multiplier effects from local site to national to regional site levels.