Wetlands – a natural source of food that may not last forever
Vientiane Times, February 12, 2010
“Here is our breakfast, our lunch and our dinner,” a middle-aged villager tells us, pointing to a large pond.
She lives in Nongtha village in Chanthabouly district, where one of three wetland areas in Vientiane can be found.
Every day, villagers go to the pond to collect various kinds of vegetables that flourish here and the men go to catch fish.
“There are a lot of fish here. We don't need to buy any at the market,” Mr Bounthom Vorasane, a 64-year-old fisherman, told us.
“Catching fish in the pond has enabled me to feed my son and daughter over the years. Although we're not rich, we're also not poor,” he said.
Fishing in the pond has been his only way of earning a living since 1988. In the past, he could catch over 10kg per day. On a good day, the old man could bring in over 20kg.
Just 2-3kg was enough for his family of four so the remainder was sold at the market.
Thirty households grew up next to the pond in Nongtha village. The wetland area became a source of food that seemed inexhaustible.
“There were so many fish that we had to use a basket to catch them,” an old lady recalled.
Then everything changed. Life turned tougher.
The mass of fish is now significantly reduced. With luck, a fisherman can only catch 6-7kg a day now, and the fish are smaller than in the past.
Such biodiversity loss has occurred not only in Nongtha but in many other areas of Laos .
Mr Savanh Chanthakoummane, Deputy Director of the Forest Resource Conservation Division at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, gave an example of biodiversity loss in a wetland area in Champassak province.
“Some populations have moved elsewhere and have not come back. The food source, of course, reduces. We have no clear regulations to ensure that people, even residents of wetland areas, are fishing in the right ways,” he said.
In Nongtha, villagers blamed the reduced fish population on outsiders who come to the village to catch fish by many methods, even electrofishing, in which electric shocks are administered.
“Nongtha village shares the pond with four other villages. This makes it difficult to manage and control, especially with regard to economic and environmental concerns,” said Village Head Souphan Keobounma.
“In spite of this, as head of the village I have asked people to clean around the pond. I think we should protect it because the pond can benefit not only this village but others nearby as well.”
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Country Representative, Ms Latsamy Silavong, said: “Some areas in Laos are low areas, which all are wetlands. We need local people to recognise how important wetlands are. All the functions of wetlands should be understood by everyone.”
The wetlands ecosystem fulfils various functions which are essential for human survival such as recharging of groundwater reservoirs, water purification and waste treatment, flood control and storm protection, as well as being a source of water and fish, and providing recreational and spiritual opportunities.
These functions have been valued by some economists at US$14 trillion annually worldwide.
According to IUCN, we have probably already lost 50 percent globally and we are still losing wetlands, especially in developing countries.
It is difficult to protect wetlands when there is no specific legislation in place in Laos .
Mr Savanh Chanthakoummane said the government was trying to make local people understand the importance of forestry and wetlands. His activities now focus on the establishment of laws and regulations to protect them.
Villagers in Nongtha tried to express their hopes and expectations.
“We want this area to be developed. We hope the government protects it. This is all we have to live on.”
The village head said “Wetlands can provide jobs for people. We really want to conserve them.”
“We want to keep them for future generations.”
Truong Thanh Thuy, a reporter with the Vietnam Forum of Environmental Journalists, is working at the Vientiane Times for 10 months under an exchange programme.
If the government could provide those people jobs and welfare for their well being then the government go ahead take their land and the wetland where they make their living because those people need food to eat then give to the Chinese or Vietnamese for the pay back of the government debt settlement to the Chinese to build China town and allow million of Chinese to move in China town like they had been done to Tibet in 1959 and declare that Tibet is one province of China. Soon Laos will be indirectly one province of China . Laos is still called Laos but Laos will be owned by the Chinese and the Vietnamese bosses or masters . Laotian will be the minority and still poor and second class citizen in our own country .
“Some areas in Laos are low areas, which all are wetlands. We need local people to recognise how important wetlands are. All the functions of wetlands should be understood by everyone.”
The problem is not with the locals. Those wetlands have been there for thousands of years and they will still be there for the next hundreds of years if it's up to the locals. Obviously it's only the big corporations with enough resources and necessary authorisations from higher authority can destroy those wetlands.
Laos is so sparsely populated and there's more than enough land to build on without destroying our precious wetlands.
Brother Khonthakek you said protest !!!! There will be no protest in Laos. If the government allow one protest is successful and then the second and third and the fourth from different problems and different complains and different projects will be followed. So don't even think about it . All the decisions are made by the government are final unless the people ask for consideration and look at it again but not protest , protest is a demanding word. The government don't want any protest at all no matter what . Kill the chicken in front the monkey that is the way it is to avoid all the problems.
LAOS: Thousands risk losing livelihoods in wetlands development
VIENTIANE, 2 March 2010 (IRIN) - Thousands of people living in a fertile wetland on the edge of Vientiane may lose their livelihoods and be relocated as part of the capital's urbanization plans, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says.
Beung That Luang is a 20 sqkm marsh on the eastern edge of VientianeMunicipality. More than 35,000 people live there - 5 percent of the municipal population.
According to FAO, a new urban centre is slated for construction in the wetland area, while many other large-scale development projects have been proposed.
"Many of these projects would result in the relocation of hundreds of families and the destruction of livelihoods for thousands more. It is therefore crucial that Beung That Luang be developed consistent with the needs of the poor households living in and around the wetland," the FAO's Representative to Laos, Serge Verniau, told IRIN.
The 670ha urban centre is to be built by foreign companies under a 49-year land concession in the wetland area, according to the FAO. Local media reports say the centre is being developed at a cost of US$1.1 billion, while compensation for those relocated is estimated at more than $100 million.
Resistance mounting
However, residents in the wetland say they do not want to move. Nine village chiefs have started bringing in relatives and friends to boost the population.
"Villagers are unaware of the development projects. We fear that our villages will be relocated one by one. We hope that if the population rises, the relocation and development process will slow down," Peung Sungala, chief of Konkhornneua Village, said.
To preserve the wetland's economic activities and its ecology, the FAO has proposed an ecological park for the area that advocates sustainable agricultural activities, ecological tourism, reforestation, and a visitor education centre.
Endangered livelihoods
The wetland is considered the most fertile farming land in Vientiane Municipality. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport, FAO and environmental NGO WWF estimate the marsh generates nearly $5 million a year for the local economy, which would be lost to urbanization.
Forty-five percent of the total population on the marsh engages in agriculture and fish farming as their primary source of income.
"We have all been asked to sell and move off our farm land, but we are uncertain of when they will force us to leave," said Bountieng Keomanyvong, a farmer from Nonwai Village Xaysettha District, in the wetland.
"It is rumoured that we will be moved to apartment blocks and will no longer be able to farm. We are all uncertain of what we will do if this happens, because at the moment we farm rice for a living," he said.
The marsh also works as a natural water purification and waste treatment system. Besides jeopardizing livelihoods, the FAO says urbanization plans may cause severe flooding, since the marsh acts as a floodwater retention system for Vientiane Municipality.
"Our marsh will soon become a concrete urbanization project," Vieng Keow, director of the Culture and Heritage Department at the Ministry of Information and Culture, told IRIN. "The farmers will lose a primary source of income and their cultural heritage [which is] attached to the marsh's history."
Uncertain future
Villagers say many questions regarding their resettlement are still unanswered, including the location of their new homes, what the houses will be like, and how they will be compensated.
Land titling is one of the most sensitive areas of debate in Laos, where many people can be moved off their land because they do not hold titles.
"Most villagers have no land owner certificate and some new buildings will occupy the protected areas," said Keow.
Those with land titles will be compensated by the government, but there is little guarantee that their livelihoods are protected.
"We are afraid that farmers will not be able to recover their livelihoods. There is no guarantee that farmers' resettlement compensations will secure a better life," said chief Sungala.
Poor, poor people, if the gov. made a decision, no one can be against it... Many miistakes had been made in three decades .Tons of fuel had been burned away without any good result. How many endurances we had to cope with. The lao gov. tried it best to develop the country... but in a wrong way... yeah!, let's compare laos to our neighboring countries and see the difference, it shows that we are developing like snail ... in a wrong way. the gov squanded our hardly earned income to buy nice cars and built palaces with expensive furnitures for high ranking officials and obliged poor people to leave their beloved lands to benifiting foreigners. The gov. said it will crackdown the corruptions but never done anything to show that it is against the corruption which is florishing from day to day.
oh ! my god ! poor lao, we are damned by Buddha, by God, by Allah.
i rather like to see some kind of partnership between farmers and gov't that give some ownership of preserving and protecting wetlands to those who depend on the land for their livelihood.
i rather like to see some kind of partnership between farmers and gov't that give some ownership of preserving and protecting wetlands to those who depend on the land for their livelihood.
It's not "the gov't can only do so much", rather it's the Government doesn't do much.
The proposal is to convert the wet land into an ecological park.
Which do you prefer - sell the land to Chinese investors or develop the Ecological Park?
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Beung That Luang Natural & Cultural Heritage Park Proposal Presentation to Ministry of Information & Culture 05 March 2010
Introduction by FAO Country Representative – Serge Verniau
Your Excellencies,…Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of my colleagues at FAO and at the Ministry of Information and Culture….I would like to thank you all for your support and your time in attending this presentation on the past and future of the Beung That Luang area within Vientiane…
Two thousand and ten marks the 450th anniversary of Vientiane. 450 years represents roughly 20 generation; the current generation finds itself at a crucial crossroads in the development of their city. Will this generation welcome any urban growth regardless of the harm it may inflict on the natural heritage and patrimony of their city? Or does this generation wish to see an urban growth pattern that reveals the deep-rooted history and natural beauty of one of the great cities of the Mekong basin?
My colleagues and I are continually fascinated by the history of Vientiane and particularly of the unique place that the Beung That Luang has in that history. From legends of the Buddha resting under a tree to ancient texts describing the crucial defensive role that the Beung and the villages around it have played during military sieges, we begin to understand how central the area has been in the creation and maintenance of the identity of the city.
Knowledge passes on from generation to generation. The past generations built themselves on History, on Heritage. The Knowledge is in the History, in the Culture, in the Past of Vientiane for which the Beung That Luang is one of the founding elements. The filling of the Beung That Luang, means the destruction of the past, the memory of 20 generations who have fed themselves physically and mentally off the Beung That Luang. To fill the Beung That Luang means preventing future generations from building their lives as a People with a rich, living cultural identity.
Just as the invading armies of the past used fire to crush the spirit of the city, the concrete used to fill in the Beung That Luang would destroy forever the spirit of Vientiane and undermine the ability of its citizens to aspire to a rich, healthy, and cultural life.
Will the current generation be the one to erase the wetland, the city’s source of life, source of food, source of protection, source of cultural inspiration or will this generation be remembered as the one that saved the city by having the vision to put the Beung That Luang at the heart of its development? No doubt that the city will grow. And if the city grows around a large piece of wetland, it will be the site where the people in generations to come, will be turned towards to meditate, to reconnect with the nature, to recouperate, to remain in harmony with the society.
There are a number of proposals for the development of the Beung currently being considered by various government departments. I ask you all, what kind of city do you want to see in 50 years when Vientiane will be 500 years? In a moment, my colleagues will present a vision for the development of the Bueng That Luang which will respect environmental, social, and strong cultural and historic values of the citizens of Vientiane.
As the Representative for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Laos, I am ready to commit the resources and expertise of this organization and other UN agencies for the realization of this project. We are in a unique position as a neutral body representing over 200 member nations. My colleagues and I look forward to the opportunity to working closely with the Ministry of Information & Culture in the preservation of the historical and cultural keystone of Vientiane.
Your Excellencies, I pass on to my colleagues for the details of the presentation and look forward to your consideration and support.
