From local watershed management to integrated river basin management at national and transboundary levels

Bach, H., Clausen, T.J., Trang, D.T., Emerton, L., Facon, T., Hofer, T., Lazarus, K., Muziol, C., Noble, A., Schill, P., Sisouvanh, A., Wensley, C. and Whiting, L. 2011. From local watershed management to integrated river basin management at national and transboundary levels. Lao PDR: Mekong River Commission.

Watersheds face a range of degradation challenges associated with human activities, such as pollution, deforestation and changes in sediment generation. The way they are managed has a profound cascading effect on natural resources and communities in the wider basin. Although watersheds play a critical role as the basic hydrological unit within a river basin they are often neglected in river basin management.

Over the past decade, principles and practices have evolved to ensure that integrated water resources management (IWRM) approaches used at the broader basin level to address sustainable development and management of land and water resources also apply at the smaller watershed level.

This technical report is a synthesis of the knowledge, lessons learned and good practices presented and discussed at the International Conference on Watershed Management held in Chiang Mai, Thailand 9-11 March 2011.