Diversification of Livelihoods in a Region Impacted by Hydroelectric Development: A Case Study in the Lower Mekong Mun River and Sebok River Thailand

• Tracking Change: Local and Traditional Knowledge in Watershed Governance

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • D'Souza, Amabel

• Local people living along the Mun River and its tributary, the Sebok River, have a deep connection to the ecosystem and have longstanding knowledge, practices and norms that are critical to their fishing livelihoods. However, due to rapid hydropower expansion in the Mekong region, communities have had to diversify their livelihoods in an effort to adapt to the associated ecological and socio-economic changes in their regions. From November – December 2016, 26 interviews were conducted in nine different communities in the Isan region of Thailand in an effort to better understand historical fishing practices and diversifications that have taken place over the past two decades. These communities, in particular, have been impacted by the Pak Mun Dam, a major dam that blocks fish migration and has had other adverse impacts. This project was conducted in the hopes of providing important details about community diversifications and experiences.

• Date created

  2019-07-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Mekong Basin, Local and Traditional Knowledge, fishing livelihoods, socio-economic impacts, hydroelectric development
  • Lower Mekong Basin, Mun River and Sebok River, Thailand

• Type of Item

  Report

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-s01s-he10

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International