Catch-Up.
Comprehensive Analysis of Trajectories of Change in the Uplands.

Extension of locally obtained research results to provincial or national levels requires characterizing agro-ecological and socio-economic diversity at multiple scales. While in-depth study of a limited number of villages allows understanding the mechanisms of land use change it does not capture the diversity of local situations at the higher levels. On the other hand, increasing the village sample size to capture the extreme diversity of upland areas would imply reducing the questionnaire size and as a consequence get results more descriptive than comprehensive. A compromise has to be found in order to address this methodological trade-off.

• To characterize the diversity of land use change trajectories in the uplands of northern Lao PDR and identify locations evolving along the same trajectories of land use changes,


• To prioritize issues related to sustainable management of natural resources that are relevant to the different trajectories of changes identified,


• To integrate heterogeneous, incomplete data sets acquired from different sources as support to policy making.

1. Compilation of existing monograph studies

A large number of case studies have been conducted in the northern mountains of Lao PDR that were compiled and synthesized through a comparative approach.

2. Complementary surveys

Complementary surveys were conducted in some of the sites to update the available data and analyze the changes that occurred since the previous study. Systematic collection and analysis of secondary data (including spatial data available from other projects) supplemented the fieldwork.

3. Meta-analysis of land use changes

Integration into a comparative analysis framework of heterogeneous multi-date, multi-resolution, multi-source data sets on land use systems at the regional level.

• A documented typology of the trajectories of land use change in the northern mountains of Lao PDR,


• A methodology developed for meta-analysis of village profiles and trajectories of land use changes including processing of multi-date, multi-scale, multi-resolution data and capacity building of research partners,


• Articles, reports and student dissertation presenting the approach and its main results about land use change trajectories in the northern uplands of Lao PDR.

The Catch-Up program is developing a partnership with the University of Bern's Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) for the integration of multiple scales in the analysis of land use changes.