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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
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
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
• 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