Saravan

Profile

Geographic, Demographic Socioeconomic:


Land area (km2)	10,691 km²
Total length of major river (km)	1,574 km (total length of Sedone River)
Major river systems (names)	Xeset (68.6 km), Xekone (55 km), Selamana (27 km), Hoauy Paai (39 km), Hoauy Namsai (53 km), Hoauy Parm (19 km), Hoauy Zuak (66 km), Hoauy Mong (15 km), Hoauy Chuphun (36 km) and Hoauy Thouang (40 km)
Watershed areas (km2 per river basin)	5,160 km² (72% of the total area of Sedone River Basin)
Total number of provinces/municipalities within watershed/river basin	7 districts: Saravan, Ta Oi, Toomlarn, Lakhonepheng, Vapy, Khong Sedone and Lao Garm
Population (latest census)	376,462
Population growth rate (latest census)	2.8%
Male/Female ratio (latest census)	2.04:1.96 (Male: 52%; Female: 48%)
Average annual household income (latest census)	USD 805
Sectoral employment (percentage of total employment; latest census) Agriculture/fisheries Industry Services	Agriculture: 49% Industry: 22% Services: 21% Unemployed: 8%

Ecological/Environmental:


Key Marine Habitats (Forests, wetlands, fishery areas, etc.) (Areal coverage/habitat)	• Bueng Thuein Wetland • Bueng Lomlouk Wetland • Bueng Aea Wetland • Nong Boua Wetland • Nong Jaow Nong Dao
National Protected Areas (Number of MPAs and total areal coverage)	• Sebangnuan National Biodiversity Conservation (150 km²) • Sesap National Biodiversity Conservation (1,368.97 km² shared by Saravan and Sekong) • Pou Xengthong National Biodiversity Conservation (1,200.00 km²)
Fisheries and forestry (species/levels)	• Forest: There are 5 main forest types in Sedone River Basin: grassland, dry dipterocarp, savannah/open woodland, mixed deciduous forest and evergreen forest. • Fish species: perch, small fish, small catfish, catfish and guppy

Threats and Hazards to sustainable development of marine and coastal areas and ecosystems:


Climate variation and change	More frequent storms: Xangzan (2009), Likima (2007), Ketsana (2009) and Nokten (2011).
Other natural threats and hazards	• Annual flooding and drought • Riverbank erosion • Dry spells • Forest fires
Man-made threats and hazards	• Water quality/quantity deterioration from discharges in alcohol production near Vapi in Huay Mong (tributary), Khong Sedone District. Discharges are stored inside houses but are flushed out during the rainy season. • Poor solid waste management in the 3 urban districts of Saravan, Khong Sedone and Lao Garm. • Prominent shortage of water during dry season. Water availability in the rivers is reduced from 92% during the rainy season to 8% during the dry season due to water shortage in tributaries. This can be attributed to deforestation and diversion of river water, among others. • Water quality is said to be deteriorating, but there is insufficient scientific data to back this claim. Water in the catchment area is severely affected by the use of chemical fertilizers and solid wastes from house- holds and commercial establishments.
	Sources: State of the Sedone River Basin, 2009; Social-Economic Development Plan 2015–2020 of Champasak Province; Social-Economic Development Plan 2011–2012 of Sekong Province; Five-Year Economic Development Plan of Sekong; Disaster Reduction Plan 2011–2015 of Saravan Province; Working Draft of Interim Inventory of Wetland of the Lao PDR, UNDP.

Status of ICM Implementation

ICM Coverage and Governance Indicators:


	ONGOING DEV'T	IN PLACE	SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION/ REMARKS
ICM Coordinating Mechanism	X		Established the Provincial Project Steering Committee in Saravan Province for the SDSSEA Scaling Up Project; on-going strengthening of PPSCs
ICM Project/Program Office	X		PMO was established at the Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment; ongoing strengthening of the PMO
Stakeholder Participation		X	During consultation process
Coastal Strategy/Implementation Plan	X		Part of the Sedone Riverbasin Strategy and Management Plan developed and adopted;
ICM Work Plan, Budget & Financing and Human Resources Committed		X	Detailed work plan and budget
M&E Mechanism (including SOC Reporting)	X		State of Sedone River Basin developed; State of Houay Paii to be developed as part of the SDSSEA Scaling Up Project

ICM Management Processes:


	NOT YET IN PLACE	ONGOING DEV'T	IN PLACE	SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION/ REMARKS
Management Plan(s) (*at least 2 required by ICM Code Level 1)	X			Part of the Sedone River Basin Strategy and Management Plan
Tools applied (i.e., Zoning, MPAs, EAFM, IRBCAM, and other tools)		X		IRBM/IWRM

Agriculture Management and Livelihood Development:


	NOT YET IN PLACE	ONGOING DEV'T	SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION/ REMARKS
			End of project targets: • 10% of fisher households in identified coastal/watershed communities benefit from sustainable alternative livelihood programs • 25% increase in household income in fishers’/farmers’ households benefiting from functional alternative livelihood programs
Livelihood development and implementation opportunities		X	• The majority of the main occupation of the respondents was agriculture. The other occupations were business, staff officers, and laborer. 100% of the respondents in Phak Kha and Vangxone villages, 95.00% in Khok Mai village, 91.67% in Parkpui village, and 87.50% in Khok Kuao village were engaged in agriculture. • The secondary occupation of the respondents was in various activities, for instance, the agriculture, business, staff officers, laborers and others. Agriculture was still the majority of the secondary occupation, which covered 70% in Khok Mai village, 68.75% in Khok Kuao village, 55.56% in Vangxone village, 53.85% in Phak Kha village and 33.33 % in Parkpui village. The laborers covered 66.67% in Parkpui village, 46.15% in Phak Kha village and around 31.00% in Khok Kuao, Khok Mai and Vangxone villages. 11.11% of respondents in Vangxone village engaged in business. • The annual incomes of respondents were investigated by determined a range of incomes as 1-5 mill., 5.1-10 mill., 11-20 mill., and more than 20 mill. The survey found that the incomes ranked in different levels. The majority of income of 1-5 mill was found in Khok Kuao village, which had 68.75%. The incomes more than 20 mill. were found in Khok Mai, Vangxone and Khok Kuao villages, which accounted for 25.00%, 22.22% and 6.25%, respectively. • The main livelihood activities in five villages of Saravan province are agricultural production, especially rice cultivation is the main sources of incomes. Another livelihood activity is available in the targeted villages is the laborers/workers for farming, rubber tapping, construction work, etc. • The challenges of the livelihood activities in this area are (1) low agricultural production yield, (2) lacking of water supply for crops production during the dry season, (3) food shortage for some households.
			• There were some activities to promote the incomes generation of the local people in order to support the poverty reduction policy of the government that implemented by the government agencies like provincial or district agricultural sector. • These activities are not quite successful, because there is no fund to support the activities for incomes generation of the local people. The agricultural sector is likely to provide technical assistance to the villagers or farmers as their normal responsibilities. There is expected to have a project to promote the incomes generation of the local people, however, it is still in the survey period. It is not sure whether the project can be implemented or not. (Source: Baseline Assessment of Sedone Riverbasin) • Ecotourism: Houay Paii has a distinct, pleasant climate and good agricultural productivity. While the GEF project may not be able to fund an extensive Ecro-tourism project, it can assist the communities in developing Eco-tourism and capitalize on the growing tourism in the province. (Source: Scoping Report of Saravan Province) • In Saravan, there are some programs being implemented in each provincial government department, including a livestock training workshop that focuses on awareness and training on the control of bird flu in 8 districts and fishery and aquaculture training. (Source: Sedone Riverbasin Profile)
Market assessment/sustainability analysis of alternative livelihoods	X		No information available.
Pilot project proposal/action plan for livelihood development		X	• The agriculture activity is the main form of subsistence for the people living in the HouayPaii sub-river basin. A representative from DoNRE suggests the strategy of the district authority should be to encourage people to engage in organic planting. Therefore, the Saravanh DoNRE, with the confirmation from PoNRE request the next phase of SIRBM project to support the Sustainable agriculture in the area. Proposed GEF intervention: The GEF project will need to focus on: • Study on the existing planting in the area • Interview people on the supporting needs • Technical training on sustainable organic agriculture • And access to the market (Source: Scoping Report Saravan Province) • The other potentials livelihood activities in five targeted villages of Saravan Province are related to the agricultural production, for instance, the organic vegetables production, livestock raising and fish conservation zoning. • The market for selling the agricultural products in these villages is not existed. However, it doesn’t mean that their products could not be sold. The agricultural products of the villagers could be sold in Saravan Market, which is located not so far from these villages. Some of the agricultural products in this area are sold at the villages. • No livelihood improvement project had been implemented in this area. If it would be promoted, some challenges should be considered, for instance, the access roads to villages are not in good condition; water shortage during the dry season; focused farmers groups should be organized and train them how to do effective livelihood activities/ projects; what should farmers or villagers contribute for such livelihood activities. (Source: Baseline Assessment of Sedone Riverbasin)

Pollution Reduction:


	NOT YET IN PLACE	ONGOING DEV'T	IN PLACE	SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION/ REMARKS
				(Priority Site: Houay Paii, Saravan Province) • 250 households in 3 sub-basins benefit from access to adequate and safe drinking water • Water quality and water quantity monitoring program implemented in 3 districts
Profiles of pilot river basin/coastal areas (including areal extent of priority river basins/coastal areas covered by ICM/IWRM management plans)		X		• Hoauy Paii has a total area of around 132,044 hectares and with a river length of 33 km and 30 km wide. It has more than 100 species of plants and animals. • There are 12 villages within the area with total population of about 6,038 people. People in Hoauy Paii mainly work in agriculture: rice, corn, banana and vegetables. The river’s water is mainly used for agriculture, livestock feeding and human supply. • The main problems in the sub-basin have to do with deforestation of the riverbanks, declining water quality and quantity, slash and burn agriculture due to lack of policy enforcement, weakness of institutional capacity on IWRM (Saravan PoNRE, 2014). • The Head of the Water Unit of Saravan District reported that there is currently no IWRM activity/project in Hoauy Paii. (Scoping Report Saravan Province)
Project proposal/action plan for an integrated river basin and coastal area focusing on pollution prevention and management and/or water resource conservation, protection and management		X		• Based on information provided by the Head of the Water Unit of Saravanh district, there aren’t any activities/projects on IWRM in Houay Paii. • PoNRE submitted a proposal to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement IWRM activities in Houay Paii for the period 2014-2015 but to date has not been approved. • Under the GEF SDS-SEA Project, IWRM will be implemented at the sub-basin level (i.e., Houay Paii), including the setting up of institutional mechanism, capacity building of Project Implementation Team, and implementation of activities addressing specific aspects (e.g., riverbank protection and conservation, water supply and management, water quality monitoring, livelihood management, waste management) (Scoping Report Saravan Province)
Water quality monitoring in priority rivers/coastal areas		X		• The water level in Paii river is totally different compare to 10 years past (information from PoNRE). Regular monitoring of water quality and water balance is needed. Proposed GEF intervention: The GEF project will need to focus on: • Field survey to selected the water sampling point and set up the stab-gate • Train the local people on water sampling and other related activities water quality monitoring • Provide the materials to support water quality monitoring activities • Implement water sampling monitoring and analysis in the laboratory once a month • Develop water quality monitoring in Houay Paii report • Design and establish the overflow weir • Develop rule and management person in charge • Awareness and convince people on the weir operation and maintenance (Scoping Report Saravan Province)
The Evidence of reduced pollutant discharges and water resource conservation, protection and use management		X		• During the previous phase of the implementation of the Sedone Integrated Management Plan, waste management activity was undertaken in Honglex village, Saravan district. The implementation enhanced the understanding and skills of people in managing the wastes by themselves. For the next phase, local authorities need to extend the area to two villages (Nalex and Phonbok) along the river bank and school area (Primary and secondary school). The activity aims to develop the regulation and dissemination of information, encouraging people to manage waste through competition activities and develop a green and clean school. (Source: Scoping Report Saravan Province) • There is no evidences regarding to pollutants and sources in these villages of Saravan province. However, the chemicals used for agriculture will be increased and it will be a sources of pollutants. And also the solid waste in the villages and outside of villages can be a pollutant source that can cause water contamination as well. • In order to solve this kind of pollutants, villages have to develop the village environmental management regulation and enforced as village regulation. • The challenges of pollutants reduction are related to the knowledge and skills of the local people. They did not have experiences to deal with such problems. The awareness raising on the impact of pollutants and management mechanism for the local people is needed, even the impacts are not happened or pollutants are not existed. (Source: Baseline Assessment of Sedone Riverbasin)
Solid Waste Management
Household survey of solid waste generation, including waste management practices and willingness to pay for solid waste collection and management in priority site			X	• Saravan District was part of the sites surveyed for solid waste management in 2010. • Average waste generation per capita in Saravan was 0.486kg/day. • The top three waste compositions were food waste (24.58%), plastics (25.7%), and grass wood and leaf (21.79%). • Waste segregation practice at household level was at 57.9%. • 50% of those surveyed in Saravan were covered by waste collection services being provided by UDAA (Urban Development and Administration Authority). The waste collection service in Saravan has been operating since 2006 as reported by key informants. • The dumpsite in Saravan was located about 7 Km from the city center with the total area about 1 hectare. Burning is still in practice. • 53.1% of those not being served by waste collection services burned their wastes • For the willingness to pay (WTP) in Saravan, about 27.6% responded that they can pay less than 5000 KIP while 58.6% can spend in between 5000-10000 KIP. Other small percentage can pay more than 10001 KIP. Source: Baseline Survey Report on Solid Waste Management in Sedone River, 2011
Assessment of feasibility of implementing solid waste management program			X	• The survey that was conducted in 2011 which covered 2 villages in Saravan District indicated 73.2% among respondents strongly agreed to the implementation of community based solid waste management program. Source: Baseline Survey Report on Solid Waste Management in Sedone River, 2011
Recommendations/action plan to implement solid waste management program	X			• Solid waste management was implemented in the target 2 villages in Saravan District in the previous phase of the implementation of the Sedone Strategy. • Some of the constraints/problems during the initial phase of implementation are identified as follows. - Difficult road access thus the UDAA’s Truck in Saravan is not able to collect in those areas. However, the UDAA and District Governors planned to extend service to cover all of the remaining households in the target villages. - Lack of equipment including speaker and bins for buzzing during cleaning-up and public awareness activities. - Villager chief and village team only asked for more trainings to their villagers and continue to support the cleaning-up activities. Source: Solid Waste Management Report
Evidence of improved solid waste management in the priority site	X			No information available.

Nutrient Management and Water Use Conservation:


	NOT YET IN PLACE	SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION/ REMARKS
Household survey of water supply, use and sanitation conditions in coastal and watershed areas	X	• The main sources of water that respondents used for households’ consumption were deep wells, wells and natural rivers. The majority of them used deep wells. Namlin is not available in this area. 25% of respondents in Khok Mai and 16.67% in Parkpui used water from the natural rivers. Some of them in Khok Kuao, Khok Mai, Phak Kha and Vangxone used water from wells. Normally, the water from the wells is available during the rainy season. Some of wells are dried during the Dry Season. Deep wells are able to supply water year round. • Most of the respondents used water from the deep wells for drinking. Others used water from the wells. 25% of respondents in Khok Mai, 16.67% in Parkpui, and 11.11% in Vangxone used water from the natural rivers for drinking. Nowadays, drinking water from the natural rivers is unsafe for people health, because of chemical application for agricultural production, mining, and other activities. • There are two kinds of toilets used in these five villages based on the respondents’ answers. Toilets used in Phak Kha, Parkpui, Khok Khuaoand Khok Mai villages covered 34.62%, 16.67%, 12.50% and 5.0%, respectively. However, 100% of respondents in Vangxone village had no toilets. • Most of the respondents did not share toilets with other households. Only some households had shared toilets, which was 18.75% in Khok Kuao village, 15.38% in Phak Kha village and 5.00%in Khok Mai village. 100% of respondents in Parkpui and Vangxone villages did not share toilet with others. In some cases, sharing toilets with other households is not applicable, unless they are relative or close friends. On the other hand, people that do not have their own toilets, are shy to use toilets of other households. (Source: Baseline Assessment Report for Sedone River Basin)
Feasibility assessment of improved access to safe and secure water supply and improved sanitation through technologies, operations and good management practices	X	Environmental sanitation in the province is prevalently inadequate. Only an average of 38% of the total number of households in the three provinces (Champasak, Saravan and Sedone) have latrines. 28% of households have latrines in Saravan. Only 8.2% of the households in the small town of Toomlam in Saravan have latrines. This reflects the startling lack of access to sanitation and the gap in development of these communities. (Sedone Riverbasin Profile)
Evidence of socio-economic and environmental benefits	X	No information available.

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