Mekong Community Network Action for Ecological Trading (MECO-ECOTRA)

 

Learning is a key

 

SPERI’s work toward creating a Grassroots foundation for Traditional Civil Society Organizational & Institutional Development beyond national, territorial, social, and political borders has resulted in the creation of Mekong Community Network Action for Ecological Trading (MECO-ECOTRA).

MECO-ECOTRA operates in terms of six thematic networks: 1) Customary Law  in Community Governance and Management of Natural Resources; 2) Community Ownership of Spirit Forest and Bio-Cultural Diversity; 3) Eco-Farming Knowledge for Sustainable Land Use Planning and Livelihood Security; 4) Herbal Medicinal Wisdom for Community Healthcare and Bio-diversity Preservation; 5) Women’s Wisdom in Natural Dying and Embroidery of Textile Handicrafts; 6) Farmer Field School (FFS) for Teaching by Learning, Learning by Doing toward Leadership in Democratization and Decentralization.
 
These 6 thematic networks are interrelated and are aimed at achieving livelihood sovereignty defined in terms of 5 interrelated rights: 1) the right to Land (basic); 2) the right to performance one’s own religion on one’s own land (unique); 3) the right to practice one’s own knowledge in daily farming (practice); 4) the right to decide what to grow on one’s own land (holistic); and 5) the right to co-government of one’s land (strategic).
 
MECO-ECOTRA is the foundation for the ‘river’ of Traditional Civil Society flowing peacefully between Government and Business in order to balance public and private interests, nourishing both with visionary, strategic and practical direction for innovative win-win solutions for holistic development.