The IV Conference on Montane Mainland South East Asia was held in Sapa, Vietnam and lasted from 8 to 19th May 2005 (12days) with the theme of the conference as: sustainable use of natural resources and poverty dialogue in the Mountane Mainland region of South East of Asia. It included three main activities:

1. Field trip for 6 days from 8th to 13th May in Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces.
The trip was organized for 87 participants from the countries of within and outside MMSEA. During the trip, participants carried out survey in 5 communes which belong to Lao Cai and Ha Giang Provinces with 5 ethnic groups: Tay, Dao, H’Mong, Day and La Chi. The surveys were made history, land, natural resources, indigenous knowledge, livelihood systems, local identity, vision of the future, current changes and impacts.

2. The Indigenous Knowledge Fair and Mountain Festival for 2 days- 14 and 15th May in Sapa district, Lao Cai province.

There were 10 show-cases with participation of ethnic communities from the countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region. The fair is a chance for ethnic minorities in the region and local communities in Lao Cai province and from other provinces in Vietnam in the exchange, and learning of each other experiences in life, natural resources protection and cultural conservation of the ethnic groups.

3. The Conference for 3.5 days (16th to 19th May in Sapa).
With the presence of 293 participants from 20 countries including England; Australia, India, Bhutan, Canada, Cambodia, Germany, Holland, Lao PDR, United State of America, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Japan, France, Thailand, China, Switzerland, Sweden and Vietnam. Among these, there are 167 participants who come from MMSEA countries.

Participants listened to 49 reports in which there were 9 key note speakers and 40 reports presented in 12 topics including: Land use and shifting cultivation; Forest livelihood, Biodiversity and Seed; Herb and Healing, Handicraft and Artisans; Sustainable management of natural resources; Sustainable land use; Learning process and networking; Community forest and Biodiversity; Gender and Eco-cultural tourism (see the attached program for more information). All topics were discussed to respond to the main topic, that is the sustainable use of natural resources and poverty dialogue. The conference also provided the opportunities for individual country meetings, specific topic discussions, poverty dialogues, and cultural shows.

The Center for Sustainable Development in Mountainous Areas (CSDM), a Vietnamese NGO is the leading organizer of the conference.