The Use of Cooperative Agreements as a Tool to Underpin Community-Based

Ecotourism Development and

Conservation in the Lao PDR

Steven Schipani & Khamlay Sipaseuth Lao National Tourism Administration

Global Ecotourism Conference 2007Oslo, Norway

14 – 16 May 2007

Introduction

• Lao Ecotourism Resources – Network of 20 Protected Areas

– Wildlife and flora

– 49 Ethnic groups

– Historic and World Heritage Sites

– Warm Lao hospitality

– Strategic location in the center of Mekong Region

Lao PDR’s National Protected Areas

Introduction

• Community-based Ecotourism in Lao PDR– Major component of national tourism development

plans

– Supportive national policies

– Essential, as people live in Lao Protected Areas

– Positive experience with early pilot projects

Introduction

• Public-Private Investment Climate– Major public investments in roads, airports,

infrastructure

– Favorable land-lease and tax incentives for investments

in rural areas

– Growing national and international investment in

accommodation and transport sectors

– New tourism law permitting foreign ownership in tour

companies

Kingfisher Ecolodge

The Challenges

• Lack of broad understanding of ecotourism principles by operators and communities

• Lack of inter-agency coordination

• Fostering mutual trust and understanding

• Difficult to get people to buy into win-win situations at first

• Lack of enforcement of good policy and regulations

• Competing interests

Addressing the Challenges

• Lao Ecotourism Technical Cooperation Group

• Awareness raising and educating stakeholders

• Creation of pilot cooperative agreements to

ensure equity and protection of the ecotourism

resource base

The Cooperative Agreements

• Main Stakeholders– Communities

– Tour Operators

– Provincial Tourism Offices

– Protected Area Management Offices

– District Administration Offices

– Information and Culture Offices

– Agriculture and Forestry Offices

– International Development Organizations

The Cooperative Agreements

• Methodology– Participatory meetings between villages, authorities and

tour operators to draft content

– Written documents negotiated between signatories

– Once all are satisfied agreements are co-signed

The Cooperative Agreements

• Content– Clearly spells out operational responsibilities of all

parties, for example, food and lodging, trail

maintenance, waste management, permit fees, use of

guides, village funds, training, monitoring, tourist

education, conflict resolution, etc.

The Cooperative Agreements

The Cooperative Agreements

• Three examples will be published in the conference proceedings

– Green Discovery Laos Nam Lai Trek • www.greendiscoverylaos.com

– Tiger Trail Nam Khan Eco-valley Programs• www.trekking-in-laos.com

– Nam Ha Ecoguide Service Nalan Trek• http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/activities/bannalan_trk.htm

The Cooperative Agreements

• Enforcement– Because many stakeholders are consulted and

involved in the creation of the agreements, they have

largely been able to carry them out without conflicts

– Each party has a vested financial interest in making the

agreement work

– The agreements are created within existing legal and

regulatory frameworks that can be called upon in

extreme situations

Benefits

• For Communities– Income generation

– Village funds

– Employment

– Training

– Added resource protection

– Platform for advocacy

– Marketing and promotion

– Regulate visitor flows

Benefits

• For Tour Operators– Exclusive product

– Security to invest in and develop an area

– Assistance from authorities to work with communities

on advocacy and conflict resolution

– Added resource protection

Benefits

• For Public Sector– Revenue from permits, taxes and concession fees

– Assistance with marketing and promotion from tour

operators

– Assistance with monitoring tourism impacts and illegal

activities in target areas

– Assistance with awareness raising and education for

tourists and communities

Benefits

• For Tourists– Higher quality tour programs

– Pre-tour orientation, education and information

– Opportunites for ‘socially conscious’ vacations, of which

there is growing demand

Financial Benefits

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

100000

Green Discovery Nam Ha Guides Green Discovery Nam Ha Guides

revenues - US$ Local Benefits Public Revenue

2005 2006

Conclusions/Recommendations

• Why are the agreements working in Lao PDR ?

– Applying lessons learned from the region

– We could start with a ‘clean slate’

– Strong demand for this type of arrangement from tour

operators and the authorities

– Market demand for socially responsible tourism

– Easy to hold people accountable – it’s a small country!

– Good financial incentives to make them work

– There has been good cooperation between stakeholders

Conclusions/Recommendations

• Of course, there must be articles concerned with protection of natural and cultural resources as integral parts of the agreements

• CBE is only one part of livelihood and conservation strategies. Ecotourism alone probably will not provide adequate poverty reduction and heritage protection as a stand alone activity so it is essential to identify additional opportunities

• You are likely to encounter competing interests along the way, so it is important to establish the cooperative agreements and ecotourismoperations early on

• Communities, tour operators and the public sector should have a realistic financial stake in making the ventures work

• There should be a forum to review and amend the agreements as needed

It’s amazing what you can accomplish with cooperation!