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Building Capacity for Protected Area Management in Lao PDR

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Abstract

Declining biodiversity in protected areas in Laos is attributed to unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. At a basic level, an important need is to develop capacity in academic and professional training institutions to provide relevant training to conservation professionals. The paper (a) describes the capacity building approach undertaken to achieve this goal, (b) evaluates the effectiveness of the approach in building capacity for implementing conservation and (c) reviews implementation outcomes. Strong linkages between organizations implementing field conservation, professional training institutions, and relevant Government agencies are central to enhancing effectiveness of capacity building initiatives aimed at improving the practice of conservation. Protected area management technical capacity needs will need to directly influence curriculum design to insure both relevance and effectiveness of training in improving protected area management. Sustainability of capacity building initiatives is largely dependent on the level of interest and commitment by host-country institutions within a supportive Government policy framework in addition to engagement of organizations implementing conservation.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Blue Moon Fund, American Museum of Natural History, The Lao Environment and Social Project (LEnS, funded by the World Bank) and the Wildlife Conservation Society. This work was implemented under a Memorandum of Agreement with the National University of Laos as part of the Biodiversity Cooperation Project. The Australian Youth Ambassadors in Development (AYAD) and the Volunteers for International Development from Australia (VIDA) serving with the WCS Lao Program provided invaluable technical support throughout the NCEP project. We would like to profusely thank the authors and reviewers of the NCEP modules utilized in the project.

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Author notes

  1. Arlyne Johnson

    Present address: Foundations of Success, 4109 Maryland Avenue, Bethesda, MD, 20816, USA

  2. Kelly Spence

    Present address: Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia

  3. Nora Bynum

    Present address: Duke University, Box 90036, Durham, NC, 27708, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Conservation Society, Tanglin International Centre, 352 Tanglin Road, 01-08, Singapore, 247671, Singapore

    Madhu Rao

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore

    Madhu Rao

  3. Wildlife Conservation Society Lao PDR Program, Box 6712, Vientiane, Lao PDR

    Arlyne Johnson, Kelly Spence & Ahnsany Sypasong

  4. Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Nora Bynum & Eleanor Sterling

  5. Faculty of Science, National University of Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR

    Thavy Phimminith

  6. Faculty of Forestry, National University of Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR

    Bounthob Praxaysombath

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  1. Madhu Rao
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Correspondence to Madhu Rao.

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Rao, M., Johnson, A., Spence, K. et al. Building Capacity for Protected Area Management in Lao PDR. Environmental Management 53, 715–727 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0235-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0235-9

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