Stakeholder Involvement in Developing Environmental Indicators for the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 Watershed in the Northeastern Thailand

Abstract

Stakeholder involvement is recognized as critical to successful long-term watershed management.Approaches to developing sustainable watershed management plans are based upon selection and weighting of a set of relevant indicators on which the watershed’s sustainability and health can be measured. This study aimed to identify key environmental issues affecting the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed in Thailand, and to work with stakeholders to develop a set of environmental indicators to support sustainable watershed management. The study used a community survey and key informant interviews to obtain stakeholder inputs into the process. Applying the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework, key environmental issues were identified and used to frame environmental indicators for the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed. Key environmental issues identified included drought and water shortage, forest area depletion, biodiversity decline, and soil deterioration. A total of 101 candidate indicators were identified for monitoring the sustainability of the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed, with 31 prioritized.