Details

Funding

Project Description

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) biodiversity conservation corridors initiative is to support the broad- based agenda of sustainable development identified by the GMS countries and incorporated in ADB-s Regional Cooperation Strategy and Program (RCSP, 2004-2008). RCSP aims to address the GMS developmental challenges and deliver countries strategic objectives by enhancing connectivity, competitiveness and a greater sense of community in the region. Regional economic corridors are expected to play a crucial role in helping deliver this development agenda. But there is a concern that increasing development needs and economic corridors may result in the fragmentation of the natural landscapes. This would undermine the functioning and performance of the region-s ecosystems thereby threatening long-term socioeconomic and environmental security of the region. Ecosystem fragmentation is increasingly being associated with transport and economic corridors. Although it is recognized that the transport corridors are the drivers for economic development in the subregion, these corridors are also likely to exert additional impacts on biodiversity. So, greening of the infrastructure and economic corridors is considered essential. The establishment of Biodiversity Corridors (BCs) has been identified as one of the means for doing this. BCs are designed to ensure the long-term conservation of high value ecological processes, biodiversity and threatened species, as well as, contributing to social and economic development by combining these with ecological and/or cultural tourism. To a certain extent BCs are analogous to the economic corridors (ECs) in their functionality and objectives i.e. both attempt to increase the system connectivity, economies of scale, integration and efficiency. BCs do the latter by increasing the functional boundaries of the protected areas. BCs allow the unhindered movement of species, and gains in scale efficiencies that are needed to sustain ecological processes that underpin sustainable development. Recognizing this development challenge, the Biodiversity Conservation Corridor (BC) initiative was considered by the second GMS Summit task force planning meeting held in Beijing, PRC in July 2004. The task force members agreed in principle to pursue the proposal in consultation with relevant line ministries. Accordingly, the Working Group on Environment (WGE) meeting held in September 2004 in Viet Nam considered and endorsed the BC initiative. As secretariat for the GMS, ADB finalized the TA approach, objectives, scope and outputs in consultation with the relevant line ministry staff and other development partners of the GMS countries, including development partners, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), IUCN-The World Conservation Union, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). There was a general consensus that this initiative will further strengthen the region-s commitment to and capacity for sustainable development.

Progress (as of March 2021)

Contacts

News and Multimedia

The countryside of Da Nhim displays a mix of virgin forests and cultivated land.
Source: ADB Flickr

Cil Yu Ha Vuong, K’ho native, who patrols the forests along with fellow community members. He remembers the old life they used to live before the implementation of the ADB-funded project. “In the past, we had a difficult life. We depended on slash-and-burn agriculture, clearing the forest, farming a spot for two years, and then shifting to another spot. We didn’t have enough food to eat.” Alternative incomes offered by the program have enabled them to pursue non-destructive forms of livelihood.
Source: ADB Flickr

Forest rangers pose beside a replanted pine tree in Da Chais commune. Conservation, protection and police work comprises the work of these individuals.
Source: ADB Flickr

Rangers head out to patrol the forests near Da Chais. The jungles in Lac Duong are an essential watershed that feeds nearby hydropower plants, and supplies water to towns and cities in Lam Dong Province.
Source: ADB Flickr

K’ho villagers from the Da Chais commune prepare to go out on patrol with forest ranger Pham Huu Nhan at a Forest Protection Station in Giang Ly town.
Source: ADB Flickr

Villagers from the K’ho ethnic minority patrol a pine forest near the Da Nhim commune as part of Payment for Forest Environment Services (PFES) rendered for the national park authorities. The Biodiversity Corridor Program raises awareness amongst the local communities about the need to preserve the surrounding environment.
Source: ADB Flickr

K’ho rangers take a breather after spending a day out in the forests. Around 4 to 5 villagers accompany full-time forest rangers on regular patrols that involve general conservation and law enforcement work.
Source: ADB Flickr

K’ho villagers from the Da Chais commune prepare to go out on patrol in Da Nhim.
Source: ADB Flickr

Hillside in Da Nhim shows some evidence of logging. Despite its status as a protected area, the cutting of trees is still permitted on a very limited scale at the Bidoup Nui Ba National Park.
Source: ADB Flickr