The bright green hotspot: outcomes of the Emerald Triangle Protected Forests Complex project, 2000-2016.
Abstract
This report presents the encouraging results of a long-running project to improve transboundary management in the Emerald Triangle Protected Forests Complex, a conservation jewel shared by Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Thailand. The report reviews the body of work conducted in the area by agencies in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand under a project conducted as part of the ITTO-CBD Collaborative Initiative for Tropical Forest Biodiversity, a joint programme of the International Tropical Timber Organization and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The 483 400-hectare Emerald Triangle Protected Forests Complex is located in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, one of the world's most important centres of biodiversity. It is home to many threatened species, such as the Asian elephant, banteng, Eld's deer, fishing cat, tiger and giant ibis. The region also supports rural communities of farmers and fishers, and it is intermittently the focus of international political tension. The ITTO-CBD project, underway since 2000, is increasing transboundary collaboration in the management of the Emerald Triangle. Work conducted under it includes land-use planning, wildlife surveys, community awareness-raising, livelihood diversification, and law enforcement to combat illegal logging and wildlife poaching. This nine-chapter report, written by local and international experts with strong credentials and vast field experience in the Emerald Triangle, sets out the findings and results arising from the many activities conducted under the project; it shows how the project has fostered important advances towards achieving a truly transboundary approach to the conservation of this important landscape.