Considerations for RBOs in light of existing and planned developments in the Mekong

Kim GehebCPWF-Mekong Basin Leader

k.geheb@gmail.com

High levels of complexity

Complexity

Diversity and variability

Scale

Competition

Uncertainty

Liu Xiaodong – Three Gorges: Newly Displaced Population, 2005

Complexity

Diversity and variability

Scale

Competition

Uncertainty

How do we manage complexity?

Strategy 1: Clear Targets

How do we manage complexity?

Strategy 2: Legal instruments

How do we manage complexity?

Strategy 3: Adaptive management

The process of management changing itself as a result of experimentation

Is the action reversible?Manage humans – not resources.

Don’t wait for science.Always employ the precautionary principle.

Learn from you’re your successes as well as you mistakes.

How do we manage complexity?

Strategy 4: Integrate

“Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia”.

James Lovelock

“Most principles of decision-making under uncertainty are simply common sense” (Ludwig et al. 1993: 36).

Thank you for your attention!