Integrated Livelihoods Improvement and Sustainable Tourism in Khuvsgul Lake National Park Project

A multisector approach, backed by an implementation arrangement that addresses the logistical challenge of working in remote areas, is suitable for improving livelihoods in the protected areas. The project location within a protected area required a design that considered the links between communities, tourism, ecological values, park management objectives, and compliance with national and ADB safeguard requirements for protected areas. The design also needed to maintain a primary focus on livelihoods, a key criterion for grant eligibility under the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), now called the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific. Delivery of the project outcome and outputs consequently hinged on a multisector approach focused on livelihoods and linked with two key management issues for the park—tourism and waste management. The implementation arrangement, which included the placement of a team member within the most remote community in the KLNP (Khankh Soum), was likewise effective in addressing the logistical challenge of long travel distances to and within the KLNP and for maintaining communication with local stakeholders. Innovative features established by the project as highly suitable for protected areas may be considered for replication in similar settings.