71902 Proposed Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project Assessing Quality of the Local Consultations Interim Draft Report James R. Chamberlain Contents 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 2 2. DESIGN OF THE 2004 PROCESS ........................................................................................................ 5 3. ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF THE PROCESS............................................................................. 7 4. PROJECT AREAS AND SETS OF ISSUES......................................................................................... 8 5. APPLICATION....................................................................................................................................... 10 6. INCORPORATING VILLAGE CONCERNS.................................................................................... 11 7. REVISION OF DOCUMENTS............................................................................................................. 12 8. FOLLOW THROUGH – A RECURSIVE PROCESS ..................................................................... 16 9. CHANGING ATTITUDES.................................................................................................................... 17 10. ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ..................................................................................................... 18 APPENDIX 1 – OUTCOMES OF CONSULTATIONS IN THE NPA ............................................... 19 APPENDIX 2 – CONCERNS AND PROPOSALS OF THE RESERVOIR....................................... 23 APPENDIX 3 – ATTENDANCE............................................................................................................... 24 The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)/ the International Development Association (IDA), or of the executive directors of IBRD/IDA, or of the Government of the Lao PDR, the Nam Thedun 2 Power Company Limited (NTPC), of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). 1 1. Introduction The report which follows synthesizes the process, the quality, and the outcomes of the latest round of local consultations carried out with villages in areas affected by the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project. 1 A recent definition of public consultation and the possible forms it may take was provided in a World Bank review:2 Public Consultation can be defined as an organized opportunity for all those who are interested and concerned in a project to express their opinions, to discuss them with representatives of the government and the project, and to have their ideas taken into consideration in the project’s development. Public participation is a continually evolving concept that finds expression in a wider range of specific arrangements. The essence of public participation is that voices of all stakeholders are heard and considered. It should be recognized, however, there is no one “right� or “global� prescriptive method for public consultation. While the underlying principles of public consultation may be applicable to all countries, the precise form that it takes (in terms of mechanism and degree to which the public are expected to participate) varies considerably from one society to another according to socio-political and cultural context and from one project to another. Previous Consultations Bank reviews also note that although more than 200 public consultations were documented in project reviews as being carried out between 1996 and 2001, most of these were in the 1996-1997 period when most of the basic socioeconomic and cultural research was being undertaken by CARE and IUCN. In addition, the majority of consultations were concentrated on the Nakai Plateau. And while consultations and recommendations of stakeholders have influenced the RAP (on such matters as locations for resettlement, house design, village layout, livelihood models, compensation plan and design of the downstream channel), based on the experiences of individuals involved, the previous process was biased towards promoting the positive benefits of the project while the negative impacts were largely ignored. Thus, it was often concluded that affected peoples were not provided a balanced view of the project. 1 To date the consultant observed consultations in 6 out of 15 consultations on the plateau (reservoir); 3 out of 12 in the NPA; 4 in the PIZ, and 10 out of 89 on the Xé Bang Fay (downstream). Independent follow-up was carried out in 7 villages. Wrap-up sessions were observed for the reservoir, the NPA and the PIZ. Wrap up sessions for the XBF and consultations for the Project Lands are in progress. 2 World Bank. 2003. Public Consultation in Nam Theun 2 Project. 2 Summing up the lessons learned, the most recent Bank review of the process in April 2004, noted that:3 • The consultation process in the past has not been meaningful In particular international NGOs have criticized the process stating that,. 1. Information announcing national and international consultations was often sent at very short notice. And then the discussions were mostly among foreign participants, not Lao nationals. 2. Full disclosure of information about the proposed project was not undertaken:  Financial and economic challenges of the project were not communicate;  Lack of translation in preparation of documents;  The knowledge gap between foreign experts and consultants and local people meant that information was not accessible to directly affected communities, province and district residents, and even government officials;  Although participatory methods had been used in earlier studies on the plateau and the watershed, these were primarily to elicit information not to discuss the proposed development and its impacts;  Because of limited civil society, voices of indigenous people were not heard;  Overall information about the project did not reach the public. PICs catered only to the needs of foreigner;  Linguistic diversity and low literacy of villagers made access to information problematic. 3. The ability of stakeholders to understand and assess options, express concerns and inputs in an open manner without fear of intimidation or reprisal is limited.  Most participants could not sufficiently absorb the information provided to engage in discussion about the complexities of the project.  Difficulties: the unequal positions of power between community residents and the project teams.  Participants at the national level were government officials-no substantial questions regarding the viability of the project were raised. 4. There is a transparency problem and the impacts of consultation are not apparent because there is no information on how stakeholder inputs have influenced the project design and implementation plan. • Limited capacity and institutional framework for dissemination of information and conduct of consultation 3 World Bank. 2004. Summary of Public Consultation undertaken previously by GoL and NTPC (Compiled from reviews undertaken by Pamornrat Tangsanuanwong, Leila ……. And Keiko Miwa.) 3 1. The process could not ensure that villagers’ perspectives/inputs are incorporated into the design, planning and implementation of the project; 2. The Government has the institutional structure to take care of resettlement issues that could involve dissemination of information and consultation. However, in the areas where there are no resettlement issues, such as in downstream areas or protected areas, there is a need to ensure that government agencies are appointed in the areas such as WMPA to be responsible for dissemination/participation/consultation. • Villagers’ current perceptions of the project are unclear. Most consultations were conducted in 1996-8. The situation for many villages has changed since 1998. • There was no detailed consultation plan. Stakeholder mapping was lacking in all areas in need of consultation. • Limited information in the local areas. Information villagers received was mainly through short-term consultations. An on-going system is needed where more information on the project could be provided to the people on a continuous basis, and in a format and language they understand. • Government Officials need more training. New information about the project and plans need to be provided to government officials in local areas, especially the RMU, DRGWs, and RVCs. These responsible officials must be involved in the planning of detailed consultation, as they will have to take on responsibilities during the implementation and monitoring of the action plans. • Language Problems. In most cases, consultations have taken place in the Lao language when using local languages would be much more effective, both for receiving information about the project, and as a medium through which local people can express their opinions. It is evident that the term ‘consultation’ has been used since the beginning of the Bank’s NT2 involvement in 1995 in a general way, not differentiating between extractive participatory research, lectures carried out by project and government personnel in the plateau villages, or stereotypical participatory rural appraisals (PRA).4 This has perhaps been deceptive in that in these various exercises, villager thinking was often unrecognized and unheard, or in some cases limited to only one segment of a community. Villager responses, when they were elicited as opinions of the project, were often characterized by ritualized agreement with the official representatives of the government. This is not to say that local populations were being repressed as is sometimes implied by detractors. From the beginning certain issues presented by the government met with abject hostility, but these concerns were usually ignored. For example, in the first 4 With respect to extractive research, the fact is often overlooked that villagers are invariably pleased when researchers are interested in their language and culture, and they see this as a sign that outsiders care about them personally, not simply as objects related to the project. Thus the negative associations with the term ‘extractive’ are frequently misleading. 4 local consultation that was carried out in May of 1996, the government policy of no logging outside the confines of the projected reservoir sparked many openly hostile comments by villagers about logging which was taking place outside the proposed reservoir boundaries, and gave rise to strong resentment that the village received no benefits even though it was taking place on territory that traditionally the felt belonged to them. Attempts by officials to delegate this issue to the district to resolve, was likewise not well-received.5 It was also observed that, while meetings of this sort represented official forums, they did not necessarily reflect accurately village social structure or cultural practices where decision-making is concerned. There is no way of knowing in this type of forum, for example, whether those who voice opinions are representative of the majority or whether they are just better at expressing themselves. Most women in the villages refrained from commenting altogether, despite overt attempts to coax them into doing so. These are typical of the problems that have continued to pervade the consultation process as a whole. In other words, problems lay not so much in the willingness of people to speak out, but rather in the lack of a process wherein government and project officials would be responsive to what people were saying. But given that interaction with the government is with district level officials who are themselves from rural backgrounds, the potential for successful participatory consultations has always been present. Of particular concern have been issues involving ethnic minorities. Following the CARE study, all of the peoples living on the plateau, were defined as indigenous peoples under the Bank’s OD 4.20 policy. In spite of this, smaller and more vulnerable groups continued to be left out of the process. For example, on the plateau, the Ahoe, a Vietic speaking group originally inhabiting the forested areas adjacent to the proposed dam site to the west, were moved into two villages on the plateau, Nakai Tay, and Sop Hia. In both cases they are outnumbered by more sophisticated Tai groups, and as a result were not included in consultations. PRAs carried out by an anthropologist in 1998, for example, noted only that they appeared to be “second class citizens� and were not participating.6 Thus concern for ethnic minority segments of the village populations was a priority in the design of the process. 2. Design of the 2004 Process In designing the process, then, it was necessary to take into account not only the lessons learned from previous public information and consultation exercises, but to focus on the particular problems and issues specific to each project area. Thus the first essential question that needs to be asked is how can project affected people (PAP) effectively and meaningfully participate in the consultation process in a way that is 5 Personal observation by the author. 6 Sparkes, Stephen, 1998. Public Consultation and Participation on the Nakai Plateau. July 1998 5 balanced and transparent. The basic reorientation that needed to be made indicated a system where local people speak more, and government officials learn to listen. Several basic principles were immediately seen as relevant in support of the basic tenets of transparency, balance and meaningfulness. The value of the consultation process must benefit all stakeholders: villagers, the project, and the government. All impacts, both positive and negative, need to be made clear at the outset. Mitigations for negative impacts need to be agreed upon including appropriate compensation. And, grievance procedures have to be firmly in place to allow affected people satisfaction if agreements are not carried out. As visualized in the diagram below, these principles are integrated into a process in which the local people play the central role. Village Facilitators (VFs), selected from a cross section of society, are trained to carry out the consultations themselves, speaking in their own language, and according to their own cultural norms. Since a large portion of the villagers in the reservoir and watershed areas are illiterate, a range of written and graphic materials are available for use by the VFs, including information manuals and pictorial posters. A village forum comprised of small group dialogues on all of the focal topics leading to village consensus takes place in all villages and includes all households. An impartial monitor tracks consultations to ensure that the quality is maintained, and revisits villages independently to verify results. 6 Figure 1 – Design of the consultation Process LOCAL CONSULTATIONS : PRINCIPLES & METHODOLOGY HOWDO HOW PAPs PARTICIPATE DO PAPs PARTICIPATE?? • WIN - WIN VALUE TRANSPARENCY • VILLAGE - BASED • +/- IMPACT • INFORMATION CENTER • MITIGATION • REPORT TO ALL • COMPENSATION • MIS - MULTIMEDIA FACT POSTER & GRIEVANCE + PROCEDURES SHEET MULTI- MEDIA KIT 3 HOW DO PAPs PRINCIPLES PARTICI PATE ? C H PAPs EC D RO LL E G MA LO P U K IA U G VILLAGER • S + PEOPLE VFs + IN ON N D IT M IO EP O TE M E R AT EN R G EN R C FO LA D IN IL EN BALANCE •V MEANINGFUL T • GENDER • MUTUAL CONSENSUS • ETHNIC • MAJOR CONCERNS / RECOMMENDATIONS • MULTI - PARTITE DIALOGUE • NT2 RESPONSES • INDEPENDENT MONITOR /FOLLOW UP • VILLAGE - BASED ON GOING CONSULTATION The process is recursive. It both (1) continually revises itself to better meet the needs of villagers; and (2) learns from on-going applications the perceptions of the PAPs and updates documents accordingly. From the point of view of environmental and social safeguards, the consultation process is seen as the foundation. 3. Assessing the Quality of the Process In early 2004, based on the reviews of the public consultation processes that had been carried out (cited above), three criteria emerged as crucial to the assessment of quality in public consultations: transparency, balance, and meaningfulness. These were translated into a checklist that was used to evaluate the consultations observed, as follows: Transparency 1. Evidence of “site preparation� or obfuscation 2. Selection of village persons 3. Adequate time allowed for stakeholders to speak 4. Satisfaction of stakeholders during independent follow-up 5. Project induced risks made clear at the outset 7 Balance 6. presentation provide balanced view of project 7. time spent in explanations vs time spent listening to local views (equal time) 8. stratification: all opinions are recognized and noted, not just leaders 9. incorporation of stakeholder concerns in planning 10. self-correcting nature of the consultation process, learning and improvement as the process continues Meaningfulness 11. District/Project Resource persons: • Knowledge and familiarity with project • preparation / homework – have findings of previous studies been used in the preparation of the consultations • understanding of stakeholder livelihoods • knowledge and understanding of and familiarity with stakeholders • attitudes towards local people and towards consultations, sincerity • can resource people adequately represent the views of stakeholders after consultations 12. Gender: voice of women, how accomplished 13. Language issues (language, many local people, especially women, do not speak Lao – has provision been made for discussions in local languages and translation); Style of language used in discussions. 14. level of recognition of differing worldviews/cultures/ epistemologies 15. Ethnically mixed villages, do all groups have a voice Obviously there is some overlap in criteria in terms of the indicators selected to represent the criteria. 4. Project Areas and sets of issues Areas affected by the Nam Theun 2 project that have been identified for purposes of consultation include: (1) Plateau / Reservoir. This includes the 17 villages (15 administrative units) that will be relocated from the inundation area of the reservoir. Key issues: resettlement - housing, livelihoods (2) National Protected Area (NPA) [formerly NBCA], or Watershed. The NPA encompasses the Nakai-Nam Theun Protected Area (NNT); the Southern Corridor that links NNT with the Hin Nam No Protected Area to the south; and the Corridor which links NNT to the Khammouane Limestone Protected Area. Most of thhe villages are located in NNT in three river basins: The Nam Sot (with its tributary thhe Nam Mone; the Nam Theun itself, and the Nam Noy (with its tributary the Nam Pheo). Altogether 31 villages are located in these three basins. 8 Key issues: Land use, conservation, administration, patrolling, poaching (3) The Peripheral Impact Zone (PIZ) or buffer zone for the NPA. Villages whose land may either overlap with or abut on the NPA form basis for this category. Ostensibly it also includes villages who while not directly linked to the NPA utilize resources therein. Key issues: resource use, poaching (and vulnerable ethnic minorities) (4) The Downstream Area. This area includes villages on rivers that will be affected by the increased water flow from the power station into the Nam Katang, the Nam Phit, and the Xé Bang Fay rivers respectively. The Xé Bang Fay is apportioned into the upper and lower reaches of the river for purposes of manageability given the large number of affected villages. Key issues: flooding, erosion, fishing (5) Project Lands. Areas that will be used for other purposes by the project, including the construction camps, access roads, tailrace channel, power station, transmission lines, and so on. Key issue: compensation 9 Figure 2 – Map of the Project Areas 5. Application But the process begins at a stage prior to that shown on the chart. Apart from the villagers, the people engaged in the process include district officials of the government, District Resource Teams (DRTs), employees of the NTPC, and an international NGO from Thailand. The latter was responsible for designing the 10 process, training the District Resource Teams, overseeing the pilot consultations, and carrying out wrap-up workshops to document the concerns and recommendations of Box 1 - Steps in the Process • Preparation – subsuming information from documents and preparation of manuals and materials • Training of District Resource Teams • Piloting • Day One – selection and training of VFs by DRTs • Day Two – village forum (small groups and consensus) led by VFs • Village wrap up – VFs and DRTs • Area wrap up, compilation, synthesis, analysis by NGO, NTPC, and DRTs the villagers for each area, synthesize, and analyze the findings, and assist with finalizing the responses and inclusions into the planning process. 6. Incorporating Village Concerns To move from the synthesis of concerns and recommendations to incorporation of the various proposals requires a detailed review of the proposals and a means of maintaining and retrieving information. To this end a database system has been prepared. Basic village data, ethnicity, population, village history are all entered, in addition to concerns and recommendations that emerged from small group discussions as well as the ones on which there was village consensus, and names and positions of Village Facilitators for on-going activities. Inputs of villagers are incorporated on two levels. On the first level, each recommendation is noted and addressed by the project. On the next level, following synthesis and analysis during wrap-up workshops, trends and more general directions of villager concerns become evident. As an example of the latter, for villagers on the plateau and in the watershed where extensive agricultural systems have been in place, issues surrounding nonmaterial culture or social capital take precedence over purely monetary concerns. And in these locations, predictably, restrictions to access to production land and movement towards intensification being discussed in the consultations is a matter of great concern. 11 Other more detailed examples are discussed below. Responses to the concerns and recommendations of local people in the project areas take the form of (1) continuing the consultations to discuss follow-up activities with villagers, and readdressing those mitigations that are in need of clarification; (2) incorporating those mitigations that are ultimately deemed appropriate through this participatory process into the relevant project plan. 7. Revision of Documents The concerns and recommendations of villagers are discussed in detail at the area wrap-up workshops. From this a synthesis and analysis is carried out by all of the District Resource Teams facilitated by the NGO consultant. These analyses are then introduced to the various parties responsible for document revision in their respective agencies. Currently, concerns and recommendations from the watershed have been incorporated into the revised SEMFOP document, and likewise concerns from the plateau and the Xé Bang Fay will be introduced soon into the SDP. SEMFOP Villages where consultations were carried out first in the NNT-NPA were selected purposively to include all major river valleys (sub-watersheds) and all ethnic groups. These were as follows: Table 1 – Geographic and Ethnic Distribution of NNT-NPA Public Consultations Subwatershed Vietic Katuic Lao-Tai Villages Nam-Noy/Pheo Kri, Phong Brou Sek Maka, Tong, Teung, Meuy, Koune, Vang Khouay Theun Thémarou Brou Vang Chang, Mak Feuang, Thaphayban, Peung Sot-Mone Malang, Arao, Brou Xin et. al. Na Vang, Kaching, Na Atel, Maleng Hao, Songkhone, Tha Meuang Issues on the Nam Noy-Nam Pheo, generally, are summarized as issues pertaining to administration. The issues on the Nam Theun may be summarized as concerns related to food production and livelihoods in general. The main concerns along the Nam Sot- Nam Mone concern access to the outside and equity of benefits. All groups fear confrontations with poachers in particular the Vietnamese. The following lessons emerged from the consultations as relevant to the revision of SEMFOP. 1. The river sub-watersheds need to be considered separately in implementation 12 a. Nam Noy b. Nam Theun c. Nam Sot 2. Within each sub-watershed, ethnicity is a highly significant issue especially as it pertains to, a. language and communication b. inter-ethnic relations and hierarchies c. different sets of concerns d. the Vietic Type I peoples in the NPA and the PIZ need special attention and consideration e. the need for ethnic minorities advisor to begin ASAP 3. A mechanism needs to be established to integrate the findings from consultations into SEMFOP (an on-going dynamic process, not a one-off event) 4. The process of transition of villages in the watershed in the vanguard of development needs to be dealt with with respect to: a. livelihood (adaptive) changes i. swidden concerns (govt vs SEMFOP) ii. livestock concerns b. social structure concerns 5. A concern is now apparent as to how to impose regulations while maintaining ownership – the essence of community involvement Social Development Plan The recent consultations have confirmed directly what has perhaps not been fully appreciated in project documentation thus far – the psychological importance of nonmaterial culture. With focus of the SDP being directed primarily at the physical aspects of relocation and compensation, the consultations have now re-focused our attention on those elements of cultural systems that cannot be reduced to monetary terms. Social structure, ritual status, reciprocity, and all of the other aspects of culture commonly referred to as social capital are a major concern. Villagers on the plateau carry on extensive livelihoods dependent upon an abundance of land for cultivation and livestock raising, and the structure of society is dependent upon their patterns of distribution among the various households. These are the two things that will be lost in the resettlement process which expects villagers to change to an intensive production system. This implies a psychological shift on a scale for which many may be unprepared. 13 14 Box 2 - The Case of the Ahoe The village of Sop Hia was ethnically a Vietic speaking Ahoe village with an Ahoe village chief. The Ahoe combine swiddening with hunter- gatherering. Over the past ten years, ethically different outsiders from Lak Xao (the district seat of Khamkeut). These are mostly Tai speakers, lowland paddy rice cultivators who moved to the area in hopes of finding employment with the dam project and to exploit the forest products of the arrea. The lowlanders quickly came to dominate the affairs of the village, and when the Ahoe village chief died, he was replaced by a Tai man. The wife of the former village chief is Nang Hay. She is over 80 years of age and is now the leader of the Ahoe. She is also a sorceress responsible for maintaining good relations with the territorial spirits of the area which includes the dam site. Due most probably to her close relationship with the land, she has adamantly refused to move, saying she will die and transform into an albino squirrel keeping watch over the reservoir when it floods. She also said to the district officials during the consultations, “the government has lied to the Ahoe and not kept its promises before – so why should we believe you now?� Nang Hay led the Ahoe during the consultations to turn their backs on the district officials who were speaking. When one official asked if she knew where the dam was to be located, she replied angrily, “yes I know that place, its where we go to shit!� In the evening following the village forum where the Ahoe had refused to participate, a senior member of the consultation team, speculating that Nang Hay, as wife of the former village chief, may not have been shown proper respect after the death of her husband, took a bottle of whisky and a chicken as an offering and held a string tying ceremony, drinking from the same glass and eating from the same morsel of chicken. Nang Hay then became more friendly, and after many hours has now, in a new spirit of cooperation, agreed to listen to what the district teams have to say regarding resettlement and livelihoods. The situation is still tenuous, but for the first time a viable channel of communication has been established. As a gesture of her good will, Nang Hay has told the project and district officials that the dam site is a place where evil spirits reside who need to be propitiated, and she is the only one who knows how to do this. A buffalo sacrifice is necessary over which Nang Hay has offered to preside. 15 8. Follow Through – a Recursive Process Consultation is an on-going process that is continually being refined as more information becomes available and as villagers with access to new information are able to improve their own level of understanding. New ideas will emerge, and there is little doubt that the combined application of indigenous knowledge and improved access to information will ultimately prove to be the greatest source of solutions to problems emanating from changes in livelihood and resettlement. The feedback loops are essential to this process. Maintaining momentum Now that the first round of the new approach to local consultation is nearly complete, it will be important to maintain the momentum of the participatory process that has begun. District officials who were trained and carried out the consultations need to be supported in follow-up activities and remain engaged in the process in all project areas. Currently, on the plateau, information centers have been constructed in all villages. Posters from the consultations will be placed here along with reports from all villages so that the ideas from one village may be shared with that of another, and so that villagers way correct or amend the reports as appropriate. As mentioned above, a data base of concerns and recommendations expressed from each village in the reservoir and downstream areas is being maintained by NTPC, and new information will be added as it emerges. A similar database will be maintained for the watershed and PIZ. Transition from consultation to village planning process As concerns and recommendations are recorded they are considered by NTPC and relevant agencies for incorporation into the project. During the first phase of is process villager recommendations for mitigation are flagged as (1) meriting incorporation; (2) not a project responsibility; (3) in need of further investigation and clarification. These decisions will then be taken back to the villagers by NTPC and district personnel for additional dialog. The Village Facilitators will play an important role here. In other words, all concerns and recommendations are seen as part of a continuing dialog throughout the life of the project. In this way the local consultation process has the potential to evolve into a participatory village planning process that could provide a model for good governance potentially applicable to other parts of the country. Its success will now depend on project and government commitment to maintaining the momentum. I believe it is crucial at this transitional moment to provide continued resources and support for this process in the form of funding and technical assistance so that it may in time be solely managed by local people and officials. Evidence that this can happen may be seen in the sections that follow. 16 9. Changing attitudes Comparing the consultations that are taking place now with those that have taken place in the past a number of changes are readily apparent. These may be interpreted as indicators of consultation success and workability in each project area. Among district personnel who make up the district resource teams, attitudes towards the participatory “ The best thing was process has changed noticeably. With training and that villagers were able experience and new methodologies, district officials on to speak their own the whole appear confident and proud of their capacity languages during the to train village facilitators. In a majority of cases, consultations.� during wrap up workshops, district resource teams - NPA Consultation Team were able to represent the views villagers and often Leader were observed taking the villager side in areas of controversy. As an added benefit, district officials who are often poorly informed of changes in government policy, were able to read and incorporate more recent thinking and up to date information on the project via the information manuals prepared for each area. Furthermore, intense field experience and extended stays in rural areas during the consultations provided many district officials with an increased understanding and appreciation of villager life and livelihoods. Coupled with this enhanced awareness, and instilled with the value of participatory processes, district resource teams generally refrained from speaking too much and became better listeners. Villagers, on the other hand, have seen the value of giving each household a voice, with meetings being dominated to a lesser extent by officially appointed village committees. Women and minorities in the village were consulted directly and were able to voice their opinions more than in the past. Open debates in both small groups and large groups dominated most consultations. With respect to content, issues presented in the consultations are more focused on available options and potential negative impacts. More information is available, with information manuals providing a more complete view of the project details and complexities. Continued efforts are needed, however, to reconcile Bank safeguard policies with existing government practices. It was clear that during the course of the consultations “The Kri at Ban Maka DRTs were more than ever before awakened to the are able to carry out importance of language and ethnicity. Because of the livelihoods with a good nature of the process, problems of combing ethnic balance between groups in discussions were realized, along with the conservation and value and importance of using local languages in production – without consultations. And although small and usually assistance from the overlooked minorities, especially the hunter-gatherer government. We should groups, were given special attention, DRTs often know when to leave admitted their inability to meaningfully consult with well enough alone.� these groups and the need for additional specialized - WMPA Official consultations in this regard. 17 10. Additional Observations Overall it is concluded that the process of consultation that has been place since May 2004 works well. It has proven to be an excellent approach for improving the quality of consultations vis-à-vis the three primary criteria of transparency, balance and meaningfulness. The training workshops for district resource teams are carried out in a way that fits well with a Lao way of thinking or logic, and the mechanisms for capturing the essence of the proceedings for input into the larger planning process are well designed. Based on earlier experience, it is felt that the potential for good consultations in Laos was always there, but the right system needed to be designed to motivate that potential. Cyclically speaking, there remains a need, when the first round is complete, to adjust the content of the information manuals once the responses to concerns and recommendations have been made and the discrepancies between safeguard policies and government practices have become clear and are reconciled, a process that is currently on-going for the reservoir, watershed, and PIZ, and which will soon be underway for the Xé Bang Fay downstream area. Ideally, consultations would be better carried out in the dry season when access and logistics are not a constraint as they are during the wet season. In addition dry season consultations are not such a burden on farmers. It is to be expected that latent tendencies towards top-down planning and Laoization of ethnic minorities could return if momentum is lost. At the present time District Resource Teams have had only a single round of experience, and although they have responded well to the formidable tasks and efforts necessary to carry out the consultations, they need to maintain momentum in order to institutionalize the participatory consultation process in a sustainable way. 18 Appendix 1 – Outcomes of Consultations in the NPA Topics: 1. Perception of what villagers learned 2. Villager concerns 3. Villager suggestions / recommendations 4. Team leaders’ comments 5. Perceived shortcomings 1. What did villagers learn ? - Nam Noy How to express themselves Necessity for development Conservation of animals and water sources Future plan for ecotourism Use of own language for explanations Ownership of natural resources Interest in continuing the consultation process - Nam Theun How to express themselves Methods of consultation Better understanding of conservation and development Their role in conservation Methods of livestock raising Village may be a location for tourism - Nam Sot Acknowledge the error of their ways Paddy agriculture is best Value of education Cannot use forest like before Value of NPA and the Saola Rules and regulations 2. Villager Concerns - Nam Noy Kri and Phong Patrolling and lack of power Lack of knowledge of modern agriculture Brou (Kounè) Similar to Vietic concerns 19 Afraid of Vietnamese Also hesitant to confront Sek Sek Losing production land Afraid to confront Vietnamese - Nam Theun Worried about stopping swiddening Marketing of cash crops Protected wildlife destroy crops Current land under cultivation not sufficient Health volunteers don’t know how to use medicines - Nam Sot Fear assistance will not be equal Not getting help with paddies Cannot adjust to paddies Too many tourists Production land will be restricted without compensation Afraid water not sufficient for paddies Paddy land not sufficient No money for children to attend school WMPA will not live up to promises Afraid to confront Hmong poachers Afraid black magic will be used in interethnic disagreements Loss of road 3. Suggestions - Nam Noy Want land allocation Want help with administration Want to permission to hunt some animals for food Want help in making paddies Want equipment for production Irrigation Want food-for- work while “developing� Maka villages want to split (N / S+C) Kounè wants to split from Na Moey Want schools P1-3 & clinic Want to negotiate location of clinics Help with marketing Want training for teachers and health workers Nam Theun Need tools for production 20 Want to have own people trained for development – do not want outsiders to do it Need more assistance in conservation – want permission to hunt pigs and monkeys (pests) Want study tours to observe agricultural methods Want irrigation where appropriate Want education, but need a way to compensate for loss of labor - Nam Sot Food-for-work when making new paddies Want to hire large tractors for clearing and plowing Want clear rules with respect to conservation Want quick development Want patrol posts to control poaching 4. Team leaders’ comments - Nam Noy Glad to be able to visit and understand ways of life of villagers Understand better the problems of development Some villager suggestions valid, but mostly villagers want everything for free without work - Nam Theun Villagers understand conservation, but don’t understand development and how they fit together Villagers don’t see benefits of land allocation, only problems Thémarou need special attention. This is their ancestral territory. They have only just begun swiddening and not ready to change Villagers are happy to be receiving attention Gardens on riversides are a development problem - Nam Sot Special issue is the nearness to Lak 20 Villagers are more aware and want better assistance than before Need checkpoints for contraband on road Vietnamese are a problem for patrols The Sot area is most difficult in terms of destruction The ethnic problems are between Tha Meuang and Songkhone (Vietics), others (Brou and Tai) not a problem 5. Perceived shortcomings Need more time to train and mobilize consultation teams Season is a problem for villagers Teams don’t know languages of the people Villagers don’t come to meetings on time 21 Team members still talk too much, and interrupt villagers when they are speaking Ethnically different villagers don’t want to join together at consultations – should keep separate Summary Nam Noy – concerned more with administration Nam Theun – concerned with food security Nam Sot – equity of benefits 22 Appendix 2 – Concerns and Proposals of the Reservoir NAKAI 9 RESERVOIRAREA NAKAIRESERVOIR AREA LIVESTOCK PARTICIPATORY GRAZING AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AREA PLAN SPIRITUAL PRESENT FUTURE LAND UXO CLEARING CULTURAL RESETTLEMENT CONTEXT COMMUNITY FOREST & INFRASTRUCTURE ZONING - UTILISATION ETHNIC CLEARER FRAMEWORK IDENTITY REGULATION TO HAMLET ETHNIC • ALL VILLAGERS RESETTLEMENT NEW • WOMEN PARTICIPATION INTEGRATION ? SKILL? PARTICIPATION NEW DESIGN - BUILDING SPIRITUAL ECONOMY COMPENSATION TRANSITION ? SOCIAL - BUFFALO CAPITAL WHERE TO GO ? HOME BASED NEW FUTURE LAND USE LAND? GENERATION ? DEVELOPMENT • EXPAND HOUSE • NEW DESIGN / BUILDING LIVELIHOOD FUND GENERATION LOCATION OPTION NEXT DOOR 5 • LAND USE COMPENSATION RIGHT OPTION BALANCE MATERIAL LOCATION USE RETHINKING COMPONENT WELFARE IMPROVEMENS AGREEMENT & FUND CONSTRUCTION WOMEN PARTICIPATION COMPANY • COMMUNITY FOREST ASSOCIATION • (FUTURE ) FISHERY LABOUR LOCAL ASSOCIATION MARKET STAFFING 23 Appendix 3 – Attendance Nakai District 24 Khamkeut District 25 Mahaxay District 26