Sinsamout Ounboundisane, Erin Loury, Shaara Ainsley, and Harmony PatricioMekong River System Science Data Workshop

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2014

The Role of NGOs in Data Collection and Management in the Mekong Basin

NGOS = Non-Governmental Organizations

Examples:

Non-Profit Organizations

Private Companies

Citizen Groups

Many NGOs are actively collecting data in the Mekong Basin

What are NGOs?

NGOs Can Help Fill Data Gaps on Various Themes

Biodiversity assessments

Environmental monitoring

Food consumption and food security

Ecosystem stewardship and resource use

Livelihoods and economics

Governance

How do NGOs Collect Data?

Community interviews

Collect environmental data

Design research studies

Train citizens to collect data through a participatory approach

Nam Kading Aquatic Resources Survey

Conducted by FISHBIO with support from WCS

Location: Nam Kading River, Bolikamxay Province, Lao PDR

Trained villagers to collect data through participatory approach:

Data collected

Fishing catches

Household food consumption

Market surveys

Standardized Fishery Survey Pilot Study

Conducted by FISHBIO

Location: Mekong River, Sangthong

District, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR

Trained fishers to collect data

through participatory approach:

Data collected

Fish species and abundance

Fish lengths and weight

Fishing effort

Uploaded project data to Mekong Fish Network Databank

Evaluating Spillover of Fish Conservation Zones to Village Fishing Catches

Conducted by FISHBIO in collaboration with WWF

Location: Nam Kading River, Bolikamxay Province

Trained villagers to tag fishes inside Fish Conservation Zone

Instructed fishers to report recaptures of tagged fish to Lao Women’s Union

Data collected

Fish recapture rate

Fish movements outside of FCZ

Water Quality Monitoring

Conducted by Asia Foundation

Locations: 10 villages, 10 small rivers of two provinces in central Laos

Methods: Collect invertebrates with kick nets, 2 times per year (wet and dry seasons)

Data collected

Presence/absence of 38 representative benthic macro-invertebrates that have sensitivity to the status of water quality.

Scientific Data Gaps and Needs in the Mekong Basin

Population status of aquatic organisms (past and current trends)

Ecosystem impacts of climate change

Ecosystem impacts of human development

Capacity building and education

Best practices for environmental conservation

How can NGO data benefit government and academic research?

NGOs often have developed relationships with local communities

Sharing data and resources can increase geographic and temporal scope of research, while reducing budgets

Can help fulfill agency reporting requirements without using agency money and resources

Including NGOs as collaborators can increase project credibility

Institutional Challenges and Needs

Lack of standardized format for collecting information

Different organizations will have different goals and objectives

Data collected without time or resources to conduct analysis

Challenges of data quality control and analysis

Technical challenges: data lost or corrupted

Lack of continuation with staff turnover

Difficulty communicating the importance of why the data

matter

Need for a network to share findings or achievements

Need for peer review and reliable references

Addressing Challenges: The Mekong Fish Network

Goals:

Build the technical capacity of

local people and institutions

Facilitate dialogue and

collaboration across borders to

Create connections and provide

tools to share knowledge

The Mekong Fish Network

provides a platform for groups

of all kinds to share their work

Tools for Communication:www.mekongfishnetwork.org

Click to join or contact

Sign up for email newsletters

Access MFN Databank

Thank You.

Sinsamout Ounboundisane

sinsamout@fishbio.com