Lessons learned on governance from a gap analysis assessment in Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park, northern LAO PDR

In Southeast Asia, the collaborative management system within government managed protected areas is one of the least well understood fields of protected area management. The large scale of these natural landscapes, the diversity of management issues found within them, and the diversity of actors to be engaged at the different administrative levels make the mechanisms for implementing effective collaborative management unclear. In December 2022, the authors used the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas Standard (IUCN Green List Standard), which comprises a set of 17 'Criteria' categorised under four 'Components', accompanied by 50 'Indicators', to conduct a gap analysis assessment in Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park, northern Lao PDR. This paper reviews the findings generated, focusing on 'Good Governance' under Component 1, which comprises three criteria and 16 indicators, focusing on how these actors are mobilised to assist the management of the national park. The application of the 16 indicators broke down the multi tiered institutional arrangements within Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park into the 'bite-sized' institutional bodies with management mandates within the different administrative levels, and then requested verification documentation to show that these institutional bodies were functional. The paper describes these institutional bodies identified within the multi-tiered collaborative management system of the national park, as well as the importance of the verification documents exchanged between them.