ABSTRACT
The ITM has a decades-long commitment to work with communities throughout Laos to promote the knowledge, utilization, and conservation of medicinal plants. Through the effort of the ITM, many tracts of forest land in Laos have been declared protected forest under the name of either Medicinal Plant Preserve (MPP) or Medicinal Biodiversity Preserve (MBP). Participation of the local community in the monitoring and management of a preserved tract of forest is necessary for the successful protection of these preserves. In 2014, the ITM held a formal event with the Somsavath community to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the establishment of the Somsavath MPP. A one-day festival was held to celebrate the surrounding community’s continuing commitment to monitor and protect the Somsavath MPP. Since 2014, engagement interactions between the ITM and the Somsavath community have been ongoing in many forms, which assures the continued health of the preserve’s biodiversity and the long-term commitment of the community. Engagement interactions, short and long term, between the Somsavath community and the ITM, serve as a model for community engagement activities in other MPPs and MBPs.
