The ‘mobile workshop’ was organized during 15-27 January 2005 and focused on key elements of land use history within the Montane Mountain Southeast Asia (MMSEA) eco-cultural region emerged from the III MMSEA Symposium held in Lijiang, Yunnan, China, in 2002. Participants from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and China traveled through the uplands of the three countries within MMSEA (Yunnan-China, Laos and Thailand) to enable better understanding of regional land use dynamics and transboundary issues.

Emerging issues of common concern include:

• Rapid pace of economic development
• Cross-border trade and regionalization
• Maintaining cultural and biological diversity
• Poverty alleviation and alternative livelihoods for upland communities

Objectives
From the perspective of the organizers, the main objectives of the mobile workshop were to:
1. Better understand the land use dynamics and drivers of change within MMSEA.
2. Assess the impacts of development, particularly road infrastructure, as well as linkages among transportation corridors, marketing networks and trade policies.
3. Build capacity of younger researchers to conduct interdisciplinary research related to land use in MMSEA.
4. Provide a forum to facilitate policy dialogue and recommendations.

The Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK) in Kunming, China is the leading organizer of the workshop.