Management of Natural Resources in a Changing Environment, N. Janardhana Raju; Wolfgang Gossel; M. Sudhakar

Sustainable Natural Resources Management in Dynamic Southeast Asia, Volume 1, pulls together regional experts in the field to look specifically at sustainability issues across the region, to see what has been implemented, what the impacts have been, and what other options are available. In the race to be a developed region, many Southeast Asian countries have foregone natural resources through haphazard use. As a result, the people are faced with numerous environmental challenges, particularly deforestation and forest degradation, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, reduction in soil quality, and decreases in the quantity of available water.

Community-based forest management is the involvement of local communities in the protection, conservation and management of public forests to prevent degradation through sustainable practices while still responding to the basic social and economic needs of local populations. When the people who depend on forest resources for their livelihoods are jointly responsible for managing and protecting them, they tend to do so in a more sustainable manner by focusing on the long-term benefits rather than the immediate short-term gains. However, when tenure rights are weak, unclear, or insecure, or offer limited benefits, people are incited in extracting more immediate benefits, resulting in suboptimal forest management and the reduction of carbon stocks.

• Features case studies that cover issues such as rising levels of deforestation, forest degradation, regional food security, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, conflicts over natural resource use, water management issues, and impacts on local communities
• Includes contributions from local researchers who are dealing with these issues first hand, and on a daily basis
• Includes a comparative review on REDD+ implementation in different communities
• Focuses on sustainability issues across the region

Upland Natural Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam, Volume 2, provides chapters on natural resource management in northern Vietnam tied together by the concept that participatory local involvement is needed in all aspects of natural resource management. The volume examines planning for climate change, managing forestland, alleviating food shortages, living with biodiversity, and assessing the development projects and policies being implemented. Without the involvement of local communities, households, and ultimately individual people, the needed action will not be effectively taken.

Upland Natural Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam, Volume 2, goes beyond just Northern Vietnam to address the issue of transboundary natural resource management--an issue that Vietnam is dealing with in its relations with northern neighbor, China, and western neighbor, Laos--as well as the transboundary water governance between Pakistan and India in south Asia, with the hope that some of the lessons learned may one day be useful in the case of Vietnam and its neighbors.

• Provides a multi-disciplinary case study into a complex environmental situation involving government institutions, planning, and practices, using northern Vietnam as the focus
• Covers the issues of natural resource management and biodiversity in depth using international case studies
• Provides examples of measuring the potential climate change impacts on food security in agricultural regions
• Examines topics such as planning for climate change, managing forestland, alleviating food shortages, living with biodiversity, and assessing development projects and policies

The Reciprocal Relationship between Governance of Natural Resources and Socio-Ecological Systems Dynamics in West Sumatra Indonesia, Volume 4, covers a diverse range of issues related to natural resources and its management in West Sumatra Indonesia. The chapters cover issues with livelihood dependence, rights and access to natural resources, natural resources management practices, socio-ecological systems, and governance.

Shared experiences and lessons learned from the case studies examined serve as a basis for policy makers and environmental practitioners to recognize the potential of West Sumatra's natural resources for ecological, social and economic development, food security, poverty alleviation, and natural resource sustainability.

Natural Resource Dynamics and Social Ecological Systems in Central Vietnam: Development, Resource Changes and Conservation Issues, Volume 3, focuses on the issues specific to Central Vietnam that are also found globally. War had significantly impacted both land and water resources, from which it had to recover environmentally.

Additionally, this is an area with growing urbanization pressures and industrial development, both of which are known for stretching resources beyond their limits. The introduction of several hydro-electric power projects have even further eroded the local agricultural and forest ecosystems. This volume looks at Central Vietnam holistically, from management and use to policy and data-driven solutions.