Land-Use Change in the Mekong Region

Abstract

This Chapter provides an assessment of the impacts of the six development related changes outlined in Chap. 1 on land-use change across the wider Mekong Region. The wider Mekong Region remains an important food production area, with rain-fed and irrigated farmland, aquatic agriculture and pasture as crucial production systems. On the other hand, forests and wetlands provide critical ecosystem services to agricultural production and society. The wider Mekong region experiences fast economic growth with an average GDP growth rates of around 8% over the past decade. The major driving force is investment from within the wider Mekong region and from other parts of the world. The fast development of hydropower, mining, infrastructure and urbanization are main drivers for land use change. Also the area of commercial tree plantations such as rubber has dramatically increased in the region over past decade. These developments establish huge potential threats to traditional land uses and, thereby, for livelihoods and ecosystem services. Given to the aforementioned concerns, the indicators listed in Table 6.1 have been employed to assess land-use changes.