People, Environment and Landuse Systems in Mainland Southeast Asia

本研究旨在确定生产力水平下，粮食充足和环境保护可以协调，并提出适当的措施，以实现这一生产力水平在东南亚大陆，特别是在越南的北方山区，老挝的北方部分和泰国的东北部。在对森林-山地-低地复合体生态经济进行普查的基础上，选取越南北方山区3个、老挝北方4个和泰国东北部1个样点，对这些样点的环境保护、土地利用、农业技术和生产力、农场经济和食物平衡进行了调查。我们还组织了三次研讨会，第二年在万象和河内，第三年在清迈，不仅在项目导师（包括同行）之间交流信息和想法，还在当地研究人员和具有相似兴趣的政策制定者之间交流信息和想法。主要结论是：（1）粮食生产与环境保护在政策层面上是矛盾的，但在农场层面上是相互依存的。这意味着目前正在进行的自然资源管理的权力下放基本上是适当的，2）现金经济正在迅速蔓延到农村地区，使农业经济从以粮食为基础的经济急剧转变为以现金为基础的经济，3）社区赋权似乎是成功的自然资源管理的关键问题。

The present study aims at identifying the productivity level under which food sufficiency and environmental protection can be harmonized and proposing the appropriate measures to achieve this productivity level in Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in the northern mountain regions of Vietnam, the northern part of Laos and the northeastern part of Thailand. After general survey of ecology and economy of the forest-upland-lowland complex in the study, the intensive study sites including three in the northern mountain regions of Vietnam, four in the northern part of Laos and one in the northeastern part of Thailand were selected, and environmental protection, landuse, agricultural technology and productivity, farm economy and food balance were investigated in these sites. We also organized three times workshops, Vientiane and Hanoi in the second year and Chiang Mai in the third year, in order to exchange information and ideas not only among project mentors including counterparts but also local researchers and policy-makers who have similar interests. The major outcomes are, 1) food production and environmental protection are contradictory at the policy-making level, but they are interdependent at the farm level. This implies on-going decentralization of natural resources management are basically appropriate, 2) cash economy is rapidly spreading into rural areas which drastically changes farm economy from food -based one to cash-based one, and 3) empowerment of community seems to be a key issue for the successful natural resources management.