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This paper examines the multi-level collaborative governance system in Hin Nam No National Protected Area in central Lao PDR. The paper assesses the governance and management system's potential as an exemplar to protected areas practitioners, and discusses how such a system might be initiated and replicated elsewhere in the country and the region. Five building blocks of an experimental collaborative governance model are described. These comprise: (i) a participatory governance assessment; (ii) establishing a multi-level collaborative management and governance structure; (iii) participatory zonation based on traditional knowledge and customary rights; (iv) drafting collaborative governance agreements and (v) involving local people as additional protected area management manpower. The inter-linkages between these building blocks are also described. The first results of the collaborative governance approach are encouraging as the total management effectiveness score increased by 13 per cent in two years. It shows that the collaborative governance model can deliver positive results for the entire protected area system in Lao PDR, which is often referred to as a 'paper park system'. Further work on adaptive management of the collaborative governance system and sustainable financing of the technical field programmes will be required to sustain this model.

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Protected areas work in complex environments in which they have to liaise with governments, scientific and civil society organizations, volunteers, local stakeholders, visitors, and funders. This requires next to thematic expertise on conservation, among others legal, management, financial, administrative and communications skills and capacities. Especially the smaller protected areas struggle to efficiently operate in all these specialized fields and often lack enough in-house capacity and resources. This chapter highlights the lessons learned and evolvement of various forms of partnerships in different countries on different continents (collaborative arrangement in Laos and different formal and informal arrangements in the Western Balkans). Core to the success is to build sufficient capacity within the protected area management authorities so they understand the priorities and the resources needed to fund, manage and implement these priorities. Specialized skills and capacities needed for effective protected area management are limited in most countries and it is inefficient and too expensive to build this capacity in-house. Having a clear vision on what needs to be done and building a strong cooperation between partners through effective communication is the key to success to come to more effective protected area management either on a national, regional or transboundary level.