III. Study Findings
The case studies upon which this paper is based, represent the mountains of mainland Southeast Asia in several respects. First, the study sites all face severe development and population pressures that are degrading natural assets.Second, they all involve ethnic minority groups with diverse traditions in natural resources management. The economies of all the study sites are centered around productive agriculture and forestry, as is typical of the uplands. The study sites vary in their political and economic conditions this diversity is perhaps the greatest challenge to a regional comparative study of decentralization and institutional dynamics. The studies are summarized briefly below and are presented at greater length in the full-length version of this report. The most salient cross-cutting government issues from the region are explored in the following section.
The following table provides the policy context for each case study, describes which actors receive which power under decentralization and notes what form of decentralization is occurring