Xishuangbanna is rich in mineral resources with rock salt, iron, copper, manganese, cobalt, rare earth ores, oil shale, aluminium, zinc, tin, mercury, saltpetre, tungsten, gold, antimony, lignite and so on. 149 mineral water resources have also been discovered.

5. Agriculture

Dai peple living togather in basins rely on irrigated farming. Other ethnic minorities such as Bulang, Hani, Lahu, Jinuo, Yao, and so on, living in semi-mountainous and mountainous areas, mainly depend on swidden agriculture. Before 1950, Lahu, Jinuo and Yao completely relied on swidden agriculture, few Hani and Bulang people relies on paddy fields. Untile early of 1980s, the area of swidden agriculture is more than irrigated agriculture, providing the foodstuff for more than 1/2 of total population.

In agriculture the principal produce is grain, including mainly paddy rice, upland rice, corn, and soybean. Economic crops include mainly sugarcane, rubber tree, fruits trees and oil bearers.

6. Watershed system

The main river is (also Mekong), with a flow of in Xishuangbanna. has anabranchs in Xishuangbanna such as , , , Nan'a River, , Nan'e River, , Nanxihe, and so on, with a flow of 1187.5 kilometers and 2460 thousand kw of water energe, which is 56percent of total water energe in Xishuangbanna.

7. Mengsong

Mengsong is the highest plateau in Xishuangbanna, with an altitude of , bordering Myanmar. The Mengsong area is an administrative village, including 11 villages, 10 Hani (including 8 Akha and 2 Akhe), and 1 Lahu, with 2 550 people in 540 households in 1999. The Mengsong Akha people came from the Nannuo in south Xishuangbanna in mid 1700. Mengsong was at that time a fairly homogeneous forest, when Akha people developed it into a highly heterogeneous plant world.

In Mengsong, a hardly accessible area, where only indigenous people can evolve, a high biodiversity has been well preserved for a really long time. Therefore, it is interesting to find out which are the links between indigenous knowledge and biodiversity, that is to find out the 'keys of the indigenous sustainable management of resources'

Ahka people relied on shifting cultivation. Traditionally, farmers had to walk many kilometers to reach the upland fields. After 1983, according to the laws of government, they got fixed lands for each family.

8. CBIK projects in XSBN

The focal area for CBIK is the Yunnan, and the issues are biodiversity conservation and community development, including the links between them, the indigenous knowledge and innovations related to resource governance and management. In this way, CBIK leads several projects within Yunnan, both to collect information about indigenous knowledge and biodiversity, and to support sustainable development. On the one hand, the information should inform people and government about the 'disregarded'links between indigenous knowledge and biodiversity, and£¬on the other hand, projects should be implemented to assist indigenous minorities in dealing with governmental policies and market integration.