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International Union for Conservation of Nature
Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)
Case studies of forest landscape managementfrom the mountains to the sea
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was founded in 1948 with the cooperation of various states, government agencies and non-governmental organizations. IUCN now has more than 1,000 member organizations in 158 countries around the world.
IUCN influences, encourages and assists societies around the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature, and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. Through its strong networks of members and supporters, IUCN builds capacity and supports collaboration to conserve nature at all levels from the local to the global.
IUCN’s members in Thailand comprise five of the country’s leading nature conservation and environmental organizations. They are: the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; the Thailand Environ-ment Institute; the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation; RECOFTC – The Centre for People and Forests; and the Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment Institute.
Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)
Case studies of forest landscape managementfrom the mountains to the sea
The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The views expressed in this publication do not necessary reflect those of IUCN.
This publication has been made possible by funding from BMZ and DGIS.
Published by IUCN Thailand ProgrammeCopyright © 2010 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Citation IUCN (2011) Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR): Case studies of forest landscape management from the mountains to the sea. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangkok, Thailand.
Compilers Radda Larpnun, Sasin Chalermlarp, Benjamas Chotthong and Tawatchai RattanasornCover photos © IUCN-TH/ Sayan CHEUNUDOMSAVAD ISBN 978-2-8317-1305-2 Layout by Siriporn PornsiritivedProduced by IUCN Thailand ProgrammeAvailable from IUCN Thailand Programme 63 Sukhumvit Soi 39, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Tel +66 2 662 4029 Fax +66 2 662 4387 www.iucn.org/thailand
This book is printed on ecological paper
Contents
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Introduction
Forest landscape restoration (FLR)
Six case studies of forest landscape management
• The Tenasserim Corridor Initiative for Biodiversity ConservationKantinan Peawsa-ad, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation
• Ban Santikiri Reforestation Project, Doi Mae Salong, in honour of the 80th Birthday Anniversary of H. M. King Bhumibol AdulyadejRoyal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters
• Decentralization of Power and Governance in Forest Landscape Management: The Case of the Mae Ta River Basin, Chiang MaiSurin Onprom and Somying Soonthornwong, RECOFTC
• Landscape Management by the Khao Lek community, Chalerm Rattanakosin National ParkPanudej Kerdmali and Suchai Horadee, Seub Nakhasathien Foundation
• Joint Management of Angkarn Mountain…the Legend of the VolcanoThongchan Homnetra and Sirichai Sae Lim, Thailand Environment Institute
• Rehabilitating Ecosystems from the Mountains to the Sea:The Kuraburi and Kapur WatershedsSomsak Soonthornnawaphat, IUCN
Comparative analysis of forest landscape management patterns among 6 cases
Conclusions and recommendations
Annex
T hailand has a long experience in forest conservation, restoration and management. Over the past three decades, many orga-nizations – government agencies, businesses, community-based
groups and international organizations – have worked to protect and manage forests of all types in national reserved forests, national parks, wildlife conservation areas and other landscapes across the country.
Over time, the concept of forest landscape management has evolved and expanded from government-led reforestation and management to include the participation of many different stakeholders, in particular forest-dependent communities. This book presents successful cases of forest landscape management supported by IUCN’s five members in Thailand:
• Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE)
• Thailand Environment Institute (TEI)• Seub Nakhasathien Foundation• RECOFTC – The Centre for People and Forests• Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment
Institute (GSEI).
On 21 December 2009, these members organized a national seminar in Bangkok, Thailand, to share their experiences in forest landscape restoration and management. Six case studies were presented at the seminar:
1. The Tenasserim Corridor Initiative (DNP)2. Ban Santikiri Reforestation Project, Doi Mae Salong
(Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters)3. Mae Ta River Basin Community Forest Management
(RECOFTC and partners)4. Khao Lek Community Landscape Management, Chalerm
Rattanakosin National Park (Seub Nakhasathien Foundation)5. Angkarn Mountain Forest Management (TEI)6. Ecosystem Rehabilitation through Community Participation
(IUCN)
During the seminar, the members were able to review and collect feed-back on concepts, experiences, knowledge and techniques in forest landscape restoration in Thailand. The case studies from the seminar, together with the conclusions and recommendations based on this feedback, are presented in this book to support the development and application of FLR approaches in Thailand and regionally in Asia.
Introduction
© Seub Nakhasathien Foundation/ เอกวิทย์ เตระดิษฐ์
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Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)1
Forest landscape restoration was first defined in 2001 as “a process that aims to regain ecological integrityand enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded forest land-scapes”.
The key element of FLR is its focus on managing the dynamic and often com-plex interactions between the people, natural resources and land uses mak-ing up a landscape. It uses collab-orative approaches to harmonize the many separate land-use decisions of stakeholders, with the aim of restoring ecological integrity and enhancing the development of local communities and national economies.
© IUCN-TH/Sayan CHEUNUDOMSAVAD
1 This section is based on Maginnis, S., Rietbergen-McCracken, J. and Jackson, W. (2007) Introduction. In: Rietbergen-McCracken, J., Maginnis, S. and Sarre, A. (eds), The Forest Landscape Restoration Handbook. Earthscan Publications, London.
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In many ways, FLR is an alternative to top-down, expert-driven land-use plan-ning, providing a means to reflect soci-etal choices by applying the principles of the ecosystem approach.2
FLR differs from conventional restora-tion approaches in several ways:
• It takes a landscape-level view. This does not mean that every FLR initiative must be large-scale or ex-pensive; rather, that site-level res-toration decisions need to include landscape-level objectives and take into account likely landscape-level impacts.
• It operates on the “double filter” principle. Restoration efforts need to foster both improved ecological integrity and enhanced human well-being at the landscape level.
• It is a collaborative process involving a wide range of stakeholder groups collectively deciding on the most technically appropriate and socio-economically acceptable options for restoration.
• It does not necessarily aim to return forest landscapes to their original state. Rather, it is a forward-looking approach that aims to strengthen the resilience of forest landscapes and keep open future options for optimizing the delivery of forest-related goods and services at the landscape level.
• It can be applied not only in primary forests but also to secondary forests, forest lands and even agricultural land.
2 The ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. See: http://www.cbd.int/ecosystem/.
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1. The Tenasserim Corridor Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation3
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Con-servation carried out this initiative with the goal of protecting the ecosystems with potential for creating a biodiversity conservation corridor, and facilitating the movement of forest species, as well as improving the livelihoods of communities in targeted areas and encouraging their participation in sus-tainable natural resources management. The areas in the Tenasserim Corridor Initiative connect Thailand’s Western forest complex and the Kaeng Krachan forest complex, covering a distance of about 75 kilometres along the Thai–Myanmar border. These are rich in forest resources and are hence suitable for a transboundary corridor. The long-term goal of this project is to conserve the largest remaining forest reserves in mainland Southeast Asia.
© IUCN-TH/Sayan CHEUNUDOMSAVAD
Six Case Studies of Forest Landscape Management
3 Kantinan Peawsa-ad (2009) Biodiversity Conservation Corridor in Greater Mekong Sub-region. Prepared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok
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Participatory forest landscape restoration requires good economic and social data as a basis for analyzing and developing a Village Investment Plan and alterna-tive vocations for communities that are both environmentally friendly and less dependent on forests. With the support of this project, tree nurseries were es-tablished and local wild seedling and sowing equipment provided. Members of the communities are responsible for caring for the young plants, which will be sold to the project for planting activi-ties. Additionally, the cultivation of herbal plants and fast-growing trees is en-couraged by hiring villagers to prepare planting areas and build check dams to maintain water availability. Community activities are promoted through small grants. To receive the funding, members must submit project proposals that have been developed and brainstormed with other relevant stakeholders such as the community, academicians and experts. This ensures that the needs of the villages and the concept of sustainable natural resource conservation are ana-lyzed and incorporated. The project supports giving advice for effective fund management in compliance with the objectives of the Tenasserim corridor
biodiversity conservation fund and sus-tainable natural resource use.
Apart from that, community awareness and participation are promoted through public outreach, creating understanding at village meetings, and training on community forest benefits and manage-ment to encourage sustainable natural resource use and conservation.
Another crucial activity is to build the capacity of all stakeholders in targeted areas, such as officials, community leaders, members of Tambon Adminis-tration Organizations (TAOs), and teach-ers. This includes organizing training on community forest management for rep-resentatives of targeted communities and field visits to other community for-ests, bamboo forests and agro-forestry plots, together with developing a cur-riculum for sustainable natural resource management and conservation, moni-toring of the state of forest and wildlife resources, and community participation in ecosystem evaluation.
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2. Ban Santikiri Reforestation Project, Doi Mae Salong, in honour of the 80th Birthday Anniversary of H. M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej4
T he 3rd Regional Development Office of the Armed Forces Development Command began work in Ban Santikiri, Mae Salong Nok sub-district, Mae Fa
Luang district, Chiang Rai province in April 2007 to reforest an area of 1,440 hectares. The project runs to 2020. Planting will account for five of these 14 years, forest maintenance and protection for the remaining nine. The goal is to cultivate and protect balanced and sustainable upstream forests beneficial to development in other sectors.
The project started with a seminar between participating agencies, people in the areas and the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters. The Joint Patrol Committee was es-tablished to further the project’s goals. Villagers from 8 vil-lages in target areas approved the creation of eight sectoral committees: population, land use, reforestation, soil quality restoration, water management, vocational promotion, edu-cation and health. The role of these committees is to restore and conserve upstream forests in Ban Santikiri and adjacent areas covering 1,440 hectares so that they become quality wood lots. The Royal Thai Armed Forces requested permission to use an area of 2,400 hectares for this project from the Royal Forest Department, covering a total of seven target
© พลตรีฉลวย แย้มโพธิ์ใช้
4 Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters (2009) Santikiri Reforestation, Doi Mae Salong, on the occasion of the 80th birthday anniversary of H. M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Prepared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Depart-ment of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok.
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areas. This initiative also supports the effective prevention and mitigation of social and drug problems.
Public participation in planting and maintaining the forest has created awareness for forests and environ-mental conservation as well as income generation in three areas from 2007 to 2009. These are: (1) Ban Anglor/Ban Lojangson, Mae Salong Nok sub-district, Mae Fa Luang district (2) Ban Hego/Ban Loryo, Patung sub-district, Mae Chan district (3) the village behind Ban Santikiri school. Based on the Suffi-ciency Economy concept, this initiative, together with the Ban Nayu (Liveable Home) project, community forest project, and 3 Forests/4 Benefits projects, im-proves livelihoods and the environment of forest-dependent people. Further, the project organizes training, study visits, irrigation systems for agricultural and
household consumption, village planning, income promotion through fruit farming, vegetation, husbandry and tourism in coordination with the Provincial Depart-ment of Tourism and Sports in Chiang Rai, community tourism leaders in Mae Salong Nok, and Agricultural Tourism Networks. The project also arranges for the building of concrete roads between villages, installation of electricity, and community radio.
The concept and strategy for forest con-servation has highlighted the importance of a wildlife sanctuary covering more than 4,045 hectares from the temple of Prabaromathat Chedi Srinakarindra Satismahasantikiri to the Myanmar bor-der, with boundary lines, awareness rais-ing signs, and public communication on good practices in wildlife sanctuaries. The conservation project was dedicated to H.R.H. Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindra
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Boromarajjonnani. The 3rd Army Area was invited to carry out the reforestation and conservation incorporated into an upstream reforestation development plan. Moreover, there is a reforestation project in honour of H. M. the King under the concept of Home, Temple and School. In this respect, Home is the community forest and thatch is grown in Mae Fa Luang district by all Tambon Administrative Organizations and agen-cies in the district. Temple is the insight meditation in forests and gardens, and involves economically sustainable plants, fruit trees, and thatch grown in Santi Dharma Abbey, Kru Ba Boonchum Ab-bey and Wat Santikiri, and later devel-oped into a Buddhism and reforestation project piloted by Santikiri Abbey. School is the nursery grounds in which all plant species are bred. Trees are planted around the schools in cooperation with Mae Salong Educational Develop-ment Network comprising seven with 2,200 students in all. Each student pro-vides five types of fruit trees (banana,
bamboo, mango, jackfruit, guava) under the project, Planting Trees in Students’ Minds, to foster natural conservation consciousness for students, their guar-dians, and community members.
A dditionally, regular research is carried out biodiversity in coo-peration with IUCN and the
Forest Restoration Research Unit of Chiang Mai University. The project also joins with the Chiang Rai Land Devel-opment Department for soil and water conservation, rehabilitation of areas at risk from landslides covering 256 hect-ares, plantations based on people’s needs, and reduced burning of agri-cultural lands covering 960 hectares to mitigate global warming.
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3. Decentralization of Power and Governance in Forest Landscape Management: The Case of the Mae Ta River Basin, Chiang Mai5
5 Surin Onprom and Somying Soonthornwong (2009) Decentralization of Power and Governance in Forest Landscape Management: the case of the Mae Ta River Basin in Chiang Mai. Prepared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok.
T his initiative in the Mae Ta com-munity forest in Mae On district, Chiang Mai province (part of the
upstream Mae Ta river basin), involves Mae Ta TAO, Mae Ta Nature Networks, the Institute of Mae Ta Resource Devel-opment and Sustainable Agriculture – a district-level community organization – and various “mentoring” agencies. It has opened space for the people living in Mae Ta to collaborate in river basin and landscape management, and to use natural resources in the basin with dignity and equality. It is also hoped that, through advocacy and demonstration, community members and external agencies in charge of managing forest resources will accept the “community forest” concept.
Since the end of forest concessions in Thailand in 1989, forest management has been directed at promoting con-
servation and biodiversity protection. Many forest areas have been declared protected forests, and people have been prohibited from taking part in de-cision making on forest resource use. Several studies have pointed out that forest resource management under such a model has had at least three adverse impacts: 1) natural resource en-croachment and inequality in resource
© RECOFTC
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use; 2) local people’s lack of par-ticipation in forest resource man-agement; and 3) degradation of for-est resources and the environment.
Many articles in Thailand’s 1997 Consti-tution stipulate the rights and duties of people and local communities to coop-erate with the state in managing forestresources. The “locality” – meaning people, community-based organizations and local administration organizations – have legal rights and duties in forest resource management, conservation and use. The 2007 Constitution adds to the will of its predecessor, particularly with respect to the issues of community rights and devolution of power to local administration organizations. It has been adjusted, however, to conform more to the reality in Thai society. A summary of the rights, duties and roles of the locality as specified in the relevant laws will be elaborated here.
In 1993, Mae Ta sub-district initiated “community forest” management. The District Council established a District Forest Committee, adopted forest management rules and regulations at the district level, and supported Com-munity Forest Committees at the village level, allocating zones of responsibility and approval for forest use in village community forests. As the area faced drought and over half of villagers in Mae
Ta lacked access to water for rice farm-ing and other agricultural pursuits, the village leaders considered these the consequences of deforestation. Without forest resource restoration, the com-munity may have had to deal with more serious problems. In addition, the Royal Forest Department (then) planned to declare the forests in the upstream Mae Ta river basin as the Mae Ta Krai Na-tional Park. Most of these areas overlap
© RECOFTC
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with forests used by communities in Mae Ta for collecting non-timber forest products and other purposes..
The community forest management system of each village in Mae Ta sub-district divides community forest areas into a protected area and an area for other consumption. Most of the pro-tected area consists of upstream forests in which logging for household use is
entirely prohibited so that mature trees can retain water and humidity. However, permission is granted for collecting non-timber products in these areas, as it is in community forest areas.
Mae Ta community leaders have orga-nized the “Mae Ta Sub-district Natural Resource Management Network”, which has a similar structure to that of district forest committees, and is a platform for exchange and learning between different village community forest committees. This further promotes community for-est management at the district level, as well as national community forest policy collaboration with other NGOs. Currently, network administration and management are in the form of joint committees comprising 21 members: two representatives from each village community forest committee, and one member from each Tambon (sub-dis-trict) Administration Organization, from seven villages. The mechanisms for cre-ating learning and shared goals for soil, water and forest management in Mae Ta are developed through diverse activi-ties and projects, such as planting trees in farms sub-district forest boundary demarcation and mapping, forest patrol-ling, water spirit worshipping, and annual meetings of the network. The collab-orative networking mechanisms at the sub-district level are crucial in cultivating awareness of forest conservation
Since the end of forest concessions inThailand in 1989, forest management has been directed at promoting conservation andbiodiversity protection. Many forest areas have been declared protected forests, and people have been prohibited from taking part in decision making on forest resource use.
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among community members and in motivating the village community forest committees to fulfil their responsibilities.
I n 2005, the Mae Ta Sub-district Resource Management Network, in cooperation with the Agricultural
Network established the “Institute of Mae Ta Resource Development and Sustain-able Agriculture” to promote synergy and linking of “forest” and “agriculture.”The Institute has taken the leading role in developing a Five-year Mae Ta Com-munity Strategic Plan in collaboration with the Mae Ta TAO. Mr Kanoksak Duangkaewruen, Chief Executive of the TAO, states in the document that “…the sub-district plan is the strategic and operational plan of the community, not the TAO…” Moreover, with the focus also on the welfare of Community Forest Committees both at the village and sub-district levels, who patrol and control the use of community forests, the Net-work established the “Community For-est Management Fund” in 2007 with seed funding from RECOFTC.
The success of the people of Mae Ta in managing community forests comes from learning and implementing processes under local institutional mechanisms to deal with current challenges in the com-munity. Community members, govern-ment agencies and the general public accept a pattern and structure of local management that is dynamic, adaptive and responsive to various situations. In 2007, the Mae Ta TAO, with support from mentoring organizations such as RECOFTC and the Union for Civil Liberty, took the policy opportunity that opened for the “locality” to be entitled to rights, authority, and duties in natural resource and environmental management as stipulated in the Thai Constitution of 1997, the Decentralisation Act of 1999, and the Tambon Council and Tambon Administrative Organization Act of 1994 and its fifth amendment of 2003. The TAO used information collected in the community to draft the “Mae Ta sub-district law on community forest man-agement 2007” with the agreement of the Mae Ta Tambon Administration Council. The draft was eventually au-thorized and is being implemented.
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4. Landscape Management by Khao Lek Community, Chalerm Rattanakosin National Park6
6 Panudej Kerdmali and Suchai Horadee (2009) Community and NGO Participation in Management of Chalerm Rattanakosin National Park. Prepared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok
C halerm Rattanakosin National Park, previously known as Tham Than Lod National Park, covers 5,900 hectares in Srisawat district, Kan-chanaburi province. Though not a large area, the remaining forest is
rich and has several well-known tourist destinations such as Than Lod waterfall and cave. Living at Ban Khao Lek in the northern part of the park is a Pwo Karen indigenous community of 98 households and 521 members. In line with Karen culture and traditions, the community depends on swidden agriculture.
Conflict resolution and participatory natural resource management materialized under the Memorandum of Cooperation for a participatory protected area man-agement project signed by DNP and the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation on 19 April 2008. This Joint Management of Protected Areas (JoMPA) project is a product of an agreement between the Thai government and the Danish government. There are 4 sub-projects under JoMPA:
© Seub Nakhasathien Foundation
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1) Setting up of a database on pro-tected area management, such as land boundary demarcation, with the partici-pation of community, state, and other stakeholders. This demarcation should be accepted by all involved parties. The boundary mapping is used for land plan development to identify the land uses for different activities as well as com-munity forest. There is a joint agree-ment for land use and flexibility which the community and the officers of the National Park/Wildlife Conservation Area agree to honour and uphold.
2) Capacity building for community leaders to strengthen village commit-tees, networks and collaboration for
natural resource conservation and res-toration, together with other activities such as health care and cultural events aimed at supporting community life.
3) Support for development of sufficiency economy approaches by encouraging self-sufficient ways of living, reductions in spending, and extra income genera-tion without negative impacts on eco-systems.
4) Support for the work of protected area committees so that they and their advisors can fully and continuously im-plement the activities according to their roles and missions.
Land use boundary setting shares similar operational framework with the Cabinet Resolution on 30 June 1998, specifying the boundary control and conditions of sustainable land use to minimize the impact on natural resources and the environment.
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Given the increased human settlement in the area, it is almost impossible to re-locate the community to other locations. Also, the concept of people’s relocation cannot be used as a tool to solve con-flicts. Most of the time it leads to failed management in both areas because the new land is not as appropriate for agriculture as the previous settlement. The community then moves back to the old area. Apart from that, the pur-chase and sales of land have raised the land price and hence new forests are encroached.
Land use boundary setting shares a similar operational framework to the Cabinet Resolution of 30 June 1998, specifying the boundary control and conditions of sustainable land use to minimize the impact on natural resourc-es and the environment. The basic prin-ciples of this are:
• The survey of community land use boundary does not aim at issuing ownership deeds for any individuals, but at obtaining accurate informa-tion for appropriate managementdepending on the status andcondi-tion of each area.
• The survey focuses on the forest buffer zone to protect the large for-est areas first, otherwise this could potentially lead to delay and irrepa-rable damage of important forest resources.
• The mechanism of land use infor-mation survey with the participation of community and officers in pro-tected area is established. It is nec-essary that the community obtains current information on its own area and jointly considers other principles with government officials so that the outcome is mutually acceptable.
• An operational procedure is set up in which the heads of conservation areas delegate the roles to officers in different protected units to take part in brainstorming and conducting ac-tivities such as surveying and basic information analysis along with the community.
• Restructuring the operational pro-cedures of protected areas to rec-ognize the community in their areas and facilitate collaboration with the community.
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5. Joint Management of Angkarn Mountain…the Legend of the Volcano7
7 Thongchan Homnetra and Sirichai Sae Lim (2009) Joint Management of Angkarn Mountain…the Legend of the Volcano. Prepared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok.
A ngkarn Mountain is a small extinct volcano in Nan-grong, Chalermprakiet and Lahansai districts of Buriram province. It was previously known as Pra
Angkarn Mountain or Floating Mountain, and is shaped like a garuda. The head is situated at Lube Mountain (Thavorn sub-district) and the body is covered with old shrines. The right wing extends to the west (Takudtala village, Nongsai sub-district) and the left to the east (Charoen village, Charoen-suk sub-district). Its tail is the hill above Swaisor village (Th-anonhak sub-district). The legend of the volcano centres on the Pra Angkarn relics surrounding the model of Buddha’s footprint and eight pairs of laterite semas (boundary stones), thought have been erected between 897 and 1207 in the Dvaravati period. In 1928, a temple and pavilion for Bud-dha’s footprint were built in Charoensuk village, the highest
© TEI
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point of Angkarn Mountain at a height of 330 metres. The villagers called it “Graveyard Hill” because it used to be a cemetery and cremation ground for villagers living near the hill. Many ruins and antiques can be found in the area.
Angkarn Mountain was proclaimed the Angkarn Mountain National Reserved Forest by Ministerial Regulation No. 383 in 1968, covering 4,429 hectares in Tapek sub-district, Nangrong district, Thavorn sub-district and Lahansai dis-trict. An area of 1,092 hectares in the economic forest zone (Zone E) wastransferred to the Agricultural LandReform Office in 1993. Later on, the community extended its farming areascloser to the conservation zone (Zone C). In 2007 and 2008, an assessment of the natural resources and environment of Zone C in Buriram province found that only 2,400 hectares of conservation area remained.
The surrounding communities of Ang-karn Mountain depend greatly on non-timber products collection throughout the year, especially in June to Septem-ber which is the season for various kinds of popular edible mushrooms such as truffles, termite mushrooms and bolete, as well as other plants such as krajiew flowers, flowers of Aeginetia peduncu-lata, ee nuun, red ant eggs, vegetables, and other wild products.
Forest management in Angkarn Moun-tain is concentrated in Conservation Zone C, an area of high hills with fertileforest, streams and some low-lying lands. Many villagers have settled in and work their rice fields in this zone. The outer ring is the Degraded Forest Zone E. The villagers are granted permission to make use of this area for their liveli-hoods. Yet there are many cases of land rights trading and encroachment into Zone C, mostly in Sadao sub-district and Nongsai sub-district. Also, the mill-ing factory has been given concession to use some areas. Many government agencies have an interest in both zones of Angkarn Mountain forests, but most are situated outside the area at some distance, and are unable to manage lo-cal needs effectively. Proactive problem solving is still a challenge. The district administrations of Nangrong, Lahansai and Chalermprakiet must strictly moni-tor and regulate the issue of land en-croachment, logging, forest fires and unregulated wild products collection, as well as unclear forest boundaries.
To conserve and restore Angkarn Mountain forests, different parties have worked together to consolidate their own missions towards the same goal. It is recognized that networks and local communities must take the lead and other agencies provide support to the leaders. Activities include meetings,
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training, field visits, support for commu-nity activities such as monitoring, bio-diversity surveys, tourism development surveys, and so on. The concerned parties are TEI, the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), the Buriram Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment, the Forest Resource Management Office in Nakhon Ratchasima province, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, local and provincial administrative organisations, the military, and students and professors from the Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University.
The main development processes at Angkarn Mountain are:
1) developing a knowledge base in for-est management for local people by ex-amining the biodiversity with economic value around forest boundaries and promoting the livelihoods of people in communities.
2) considering the rights in joint re-source management between different areas such as shared conservation ap-proach, measurement and responsible
area zoning between sub-districts for common standards and regulations in “community forest” management.
3) incorporating knowledge about Ang-karn Mountain into internal and external learning for the community, teachers, and students around the forest through curriculum development, setting up of local learning units, and a sufficiency economy learning centre.
4) integrated planning and cooperation among state agencies, local adminis-trative organizations and the local com-munity, as well as increasing the diver-sity of channels for public relations.
5) capacity building of networks and local organizations, together with extra income-generating activities such as tourism, added value from forest (con-servation), marketing of forests herbs, and so on.
6) Regulations on forest use such as wild products collection, preservation of religious sites, tourism, land owner-ship, and so on.
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6. Rehabilitating Ecosystems from the Mountains to the Sea: The Kuraburi and Kapur Watersheds8
8 Somsak Soonthornnawaphat (2009) Ecosystem Recovery from Mountain to Ocean with Participation of Local Organizations: the case study of Kuraburi and Kapur Watershed, Phang-Nga and Ranong provinces. Pre-pared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok
T a Kua Pa and Kuraburi districts in Phang Nga province, and Suksamran and Kapur districts in Ranong province, are among Thailand’s most fer-
tile sources of natural resources with a rich forest ecosys-tem and mountains supplying water to many rivers, beach forests, peat swamp forests, mangrove forests, coral reefs,and important seagrass beds. These provide habitats for many rare wild and aquatic animals such as sea turtles, dugongs, bald-headed coots, Malaysian plovers, and so on. In the past, the forest areas of these districts were granted for tin mining concessions, logging concessions,
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and, in mangrove forests, charcoal con-cessions. Most remaining forests and mountain areas are contained within National Parks, Wildlife Conservation Areas and National Reserved Forests, for example Sri Phang-Nga National Park and Klong Naka Wildlife Conser-vation Area. These connect to forest areas in Surat Thani and Ranong prov-inces such as Klong Yan Wildlife Con-servation Area, Kaeng Krung National Park and Khuan Maeyai Mon Wildlife Conservation Area. Most of the remain-ing mangrove forests are in Kapur Bay National Reserved Forest. Part of the mangrove forests in Kapur district was declared an internationally recognized wetlands in 2002 in recognition of its biodiversity value.
Resource management and conserva-tion of such a diversity of ecosystems requires attention because they are inter-related and mutually supportive. For instance, deforestation in upstream areas results in soil erosion and sedi-mentation of downstream land, rivers and seagrass beds. Natural resource conservation and management from the mountain to the sea with the par-ticipation of community organizations – also known as the “ridge-to-reef” ap-proach – has been developed through experience gained from working in the field, particularly in Ta Kua Pa, Kuraburi, Phang Nga and Suksamran.
Activities under the project “Applying ecology and socio-economic elementsin restoring coastal ecosystems and conserving tsunami-affected areas of countries in the Indian Ocean” target Kuraburi and Kapur watersheds, and are divided into three implementation phases:
First phase is to compile information and conduct thematic assessments such as socio-economic and biodiversity
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assessments. Both new and existing information are collected by experts and project officers together with the community. This information is presentedand exchanged with people in the area and related government agencies for joint synthesis.
Second phase is activity planning with the community and related government agencies through consultation at the
community and provincial levels, as well as incorporating existing village, district and provincial plans and strategies, so that the final products are realistic, responsive to community needs and complementary. There is a joint analy-sis of the expertise of each community organization to identify the best way to involve them in implementing activities.
Third phase is the implementation of activities in line with the plans that have been developed, the expertise of each implementing organization, and the conditions in each area. All stakeholders – government agencies, NGOs and community-based organizations – are responsible for their own areas and expertise with joint regular exchange of learning and progress monitoring of the project.
The conservation and restoration of ar-eas surrounding the conservation zone need to be handled delicately. To ensure the project is accepted by the commu-nity, different approaches are sought to facilitate the community’s participation in conserving and managing soil, water and forest resources based on the prin-ciple that “people can sustainably live with forests.” The concept of commer-cial monoculture has been changed to integrated agriculture in upstream areas, comprising timber trees, fruit trees, oth-
The rare and endemic water onion, or Plub Plung Tharn, found only in Suksamran district, has long been protected by the local community. At present, local people use the plant to attract tourists, organising popular rafting trips to enjoy flowering Plub Plung Tharn in its natural habitat.
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er plants such as vegetables and herbs, organic farm products, and soil and water conservation to mitigate soil ero-sion. Eco-friendly career development and eco-tourism are merged into efforts to improve the local quality of life.
The Mae Nangkhaow Mountain Conservation Network in Kura-buri district, led by the village
conservation groups of Tungrak, Bang-dip and Naitui, is an attempt to mobilize village leaders in the quest to conserve Mae Nangkhaow Mountain, the largest contiguous forest in the national re-served forest in this area. The villages have together formed Mae Nangkhaow Mountain Conservation Network and are managing to plan and conduct conser-vation activities effectively.
The rare and endemic water onion, or Plub Plung Tharn, found only in Suk-samran district, has long been protectedby the local community. At present, local people use the plant to attract tourists, organising popular rafting trips to enjoy flowering Plub Plung Tharn in its natural habitat. The community’s efforts take
the lead in protecting its own resources, and in sharing its knowledge with other communities or relevant government agencies so they understand the state of the resources and management ap-proaches required, should be supported with awareness campaigns to build positive attitudes and encourage par-ticipation in conserving and managing rare and endangered resources locally. Also, policy approaches to management and conservation should be developed at local and national levels. Moreover, other methods can be used in support of conservation work, for instance dis-seminating targeted information to deci-sion makers, and using print, television and other media to promote the con-servation of sssrare wild fauna and flora.
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Comparison of forest landscape management patterns in the case studies
F orest landscape resto-ration aims to restore the fertility of ecosys-
tems and improve the liveli-hoods of people living in de-graded forest landscapes. This is reflected in all six case studi-es, in which local participation and strategic management focuson conventional reforeta-tion patterns and the needs of local societies. Mutual learning processes have also been es-tablished to address the recov-ery of ecosystems and forest characteristics. The compara-tive summary is elaborated in Table 1.
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Table 1 Comparison ofthe six case studies
Case study TargetCharacter-istics
PartiesManagement process and related laws
Tenasserim Corridor Initiative
To create a forest corridor in important biodiversity areas extending 75 kilometres
Reserved forest surrounding communities in corridor
• DNP• Sirindhorn
Natural Park• H. M. Queen
Sirikit Forest Tree species Study Centre
• Institute of Population and Social Research, Mahidol University
• RECOFTC
Promoting livelihoods with less reliance on forests, establishment of conservation funds, reforestation, dam construction, support for community forest regulations in community forest setting (Royal Forest Department)
Ban Santikiri Reforestation
To restore upstream forest and lessen natural disaster risks
Reserved forest converted into unused farm land and mon-oculture areas
• Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters
• About 10 local and external organizations
• IUCN
Participatory reforesta-tion and vocational promotion with forest conservation strategyuse of reserved forest area
Mae Ta Community Forest
To create mechanisms for managing community forest instead of changing its status to a national park
Reserved forest on which the community traditionally relies and which government plans to proclaim a national park
• Mae Ta community and Tambon Administrative Organization
Forest management learning for setting up of organization and fund – Tambon regulations in community forest managementThe Thai Constitution article 67 Tambon regulations
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Case study TargetCharacter-istics
PartiesManagement process and related laws
Khao Lek Participatory Landscape Management
To mitigate community conflicts in conservation area and prevent further forest encroach-ment
Area used by traditional commu-nity within boundaries of National Park
• DNP• Seub
Nakhasathien Foundation
Survey of commu-nity boundary and vocational promotion – learning home- for Memorandum of AgreementsMinisterial Resolution on 30 June 1998National Park Bill article 19
Angkarn Mountain
To foster networks and mechanisms for com-munity forest use and conservation
Reserved forest that community relies on for wild prod-ucts but is not actively managed
• Five Local Administrative Organizations around Angkarn Mountain
• TEI• other local
organizations
Participatory management plans and compilation of information among networks The role of government agencies in resource use control
Kuraburi and Kapur Watersheds
To foster networks and mechanisms for natural resource conserva-tion from the mountains to the sea
Two river basins classified in parts as national parks, reserved forests, mangrove forests and agricultural areas
• IUCN• Local
community and conserva-tion groups
Identifying community leaders to build a comprehensive natural resource conservation network
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In comparison of these 6 case studies based on the consideration of legal status of Thailand, the forest landscape management can be cat-egorized into 3 groups. These can be basis for pattern or example of management applied in other areas.
1. Forest landscape management in national reserved forest
C ase studies under this category are Tenasserim Corridor Initiative, Ban Santikiri Reforestation, Mae Ta Watershed Community Forest Manage-
ment, and Angkarn Mountain Forest Management. All four cases have distinct concepts, operational processes and tools.
Tenasserim Corridor Initiative and Ban Santikiri Reforestation were the initiatives of government agencies, namely DNP and the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, respective-ly. The Tenasserim Corridor Initiative emphasizes additional measures through joint project implementation with the com-munity to promote community recognition for forests border-ing their livelihood grounds. Also key is the conservation of national forest reserves in the corridors of the Western forest complex in Kanchanaburi province and Kaeng Krachan for-est complex. This has linked forests in Kanchanaburi, Ratch-aburi and Petchaburi provinces to preserve movement paths of wild animals by coordinating with conservation NGOs and central educational institutions such as RECOFTC and the Institute of Population and Social Research at Mahidol Uni-
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versity. Together they have studied the data and conducted activities for which the host agency – DNP – still lacks ex-pertise and human resources. The Ban Santikiri project’s purpose is to restore degraded forest areas that have been used for agriculture and to prevent and mitigate natural disasters such as storms and landslides. The reforesta-tion areas were approved by the Royal Forest Department at the request of Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters and with collaboration of relevant local and external agencies.
The mechanism for promoting partici-pation in conserving Tenasserim Corri-dor is to encourage the establishment of forest communities by proposing the survey areas to Royal Forest Depart-ment. In the Ban Santikiri case, the area was requested from the Royal Forest Department by Royal Thai Armed Forc-es Headquarters. Hence, it focuses on the strategy to foster community’s col-laboration and on the projects linking with activities on the occasion of the 80th birthday anniversary of H. M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Both cases are good examples in which state sectors function and take lead
roles in collaborating with target com-munities and local organizations, as well as extending cooperation to relevant central and regional organizations.
The cases of Mae Ta community forest and Angkarn Mountain forest manage-ment are the cases of forest landscape management led by the civil sector. The case of the Mae Ta community forest is based on the process of realizing their rights in using community forest that built on lessons learnt in conserving forests and developing knowledge base to prove the needs of forest conservation from the governmental sector. The area was declared a national park and forest management networks embedded in each village covering the Mae Ta river basin. It is widely accepted in society and among external agencies. RECOFTC is the main mentoring agency creating a visible management model that includes local wisdom in forest conservation into Mae Ta sub-district regulations for com-munity forest management (Table 2).
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A key summary of Mae Ta sub-district regulations on Maeta sub-district for Community Forest Management 2007
Chapter 1 General Provisions elaborate the purposes of establishing com-munity forest from building community awareness, strengthening local organizations, maintaining environmental quality and conservation as well as fair and sustainable use of soil, water and forest resources.
Chapter 2 The Tambon Committee for Community Forest Network identi-fies the authority and role of the Tambon Community Forest Committee in order to support, collaborate and follow up on forest management works as well as the community forest committees at the village level. The Network Committee functions as “mentor” and conducts reporting at least once a year to be presented at the Council meeting of the Tambon Administration Organization.
Chapter 3 The Community Forest Committee at village level is composed of 15 to 25 members. Its responsibility is to coordinate for community forest resources conservation and management plan which includes determining the community forest borderline, zoning and developing forest use in community forest, together with managing village community forest funds. Progress reports on community forest must be submitted at village meetings and through the Tambon Committee for Community Forest Network.
Chapter 4 Rights and responsibility of community forest members in the village specify that the members join with the Community Forest Com-mittee in managing the community forests and entitle them to request for wood and other resources. They also have the responsibility to monitor the work of the Village Community Forest Committee and Tambon Committee for Community Forest Network.
Chapter 5 The Village Community Forest Fund was established to supportthe community forest management in villages as well as to provide welfare and income for Community Forest Committee and its members. The income is gained through the support of organizations and external agencies, Tambon Administration Organization, including fee collected from the regulation vio-lators and community forest membership fees.
Table 2 Examples of Mae Ta sub-district regulations
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Furthermore, the core leader group in local resource management was upgraded into Institute of Resource Development and Sustainable Agriculture whereas Ang-karn Mountain is managed through the consolidation of the civil society sector to prevent forest encroachment. The villagers depend on the area for their livelihood. Initially it was built on the corporation mechanisms of five Tambon Administrative Organizations surrounding Angkarn Mountain (Diagram 1) to collaborate among relevant agencies, such as Department of Resources and Environment in Buriram province and three district authorities, namely Nangrong, Sahan and Chalermp-rakiet districts.
Diagram 1 Sustainable Conservation and Restoration Movement of Angkarn Mountain
Sustainable conservation and restoration of Angkarn Mountain
Check dams construction to
hold water/ restore ecology
Ecotourism promotion
Students’ camps/ Reforestation
activities for youth
Tradition and cultural
continuation
Education biodiversity and resource value
Community for-est development (each Tambon)
Network strengthening and capacity
building
Angkarn mountain forest learning centers
Survey/ conservation forest border
line and buffer zone setting
Government agencies’
collaboration
Campaign/ awareness raising for people/
children - youth
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed among local administration organizations surrounding Angkarn Mountain
Teachers’ network around Angkarn
Mountain
Collaborative mechanisms and violators’ deterrence in Angkarn mountarin forest areas are developed so that that common resource grounds are maintained. The Thailand Environment Institute supports the systematic operational process (Table 3).
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Table 3 Roles of different parties in support of Angkarn Mountain management
Agency Roles Key activities
1. TEI and PDA Mentoring support in learning for local administration orga-nizations (LAO) and networks, including collaborating among five LAOs, government agen-cies, community leaders and concerned private sector
• meetings/ training/ seminars/ field study visits
• youth camps with schools • reforestation with LAOs • joint study on biodiversity/ borderline
mapping • collaborate regularly with networks
2. the Office of Natural Resource and Environment, Buriram province Forest Resource Management Office in Nakhon Rachasima
Understanding the forest borderline, community forest development, academic knowledge and policy, budget support and planning
• meetings/ planning • legal knowledge sharing • budget support for check dams
construction • forest fire prevention training• youth camps activities/ volunteers
3. Authority/ Military
Legal knowledge sharing, regulations, conservation support, complaint taking and solutions finding with local leaders
• forest conservation policy • forest encroachment prevention with
village/ sub-district heads • support to forest patrol officers • complaints taking/ conflict management/
arrest of violators
4. Students of Forestry Faculty, Kasetsart University
Study on community data, resource survey and forest resource value
• biodiversity survey • water-quality assessment/ resource value
and forest dependency in 2008 and 2009 (examples of two villages)
• Angkarn Mountain forest fertility sampling
5. Research Office, Khao Yai National Park
Biodiversity surveys, knowledge sharing and academic suggestions
• study of rare plant and wild animal species
• complete conservation zoning • learning community and consensus • proposed appropriate forest management
and development pattern
6. Tourism Authority of Thailand, Buriram province
Ecotourism support through study, planning and collaboration with relevant parties
• tourism and cultural destinations • tourism model development • support for local guide training institute • public relations
At Mae Ta, community forest management in each village is connected under Tambon reg-ulations based on the Decentralization Act of 1999, and the Tambon Council and Tambon Administrative Organization Act of 1994 and its fifth amendment of 2003. Such conceptual progress is a result of policy opportunity derived from the Constitution which entitles the rights and duties in natural resources and environmental management to locals. This is clearly elaborated in the Constitutions of 1997 and 2007. Angkarn Mountain management is still referred to under the National Reserved Forest Act of 1964, which is a mechanism to protect further forests’ encroachment and also to other agreements and activities, mostly the systematic data collection on forest use.
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C ase studies regarding the participatory manage-ment of Ban Khao Lek were carried out. The community is located in an area relevant to the
rights stipulated by both the 1997 and 2007 Constitutions. Traditionally, local communities are entitled to these rights. The National Park was declared to overlap the community’s land due to flaws in field survey processes and the lack of participation of community members in all processes. The employees of National Parks fulfilled their roles and responsi-bilities in line with forest acts and natural resource conserva-tion policies. There were many arrests and trial cases as well as the seizure of areas that have been the source of the com-munity’s livelihoods since 1981. The community at the same time still needs to cut down trees to use the land for growing crops under traditional swidden farming. Consequently, there are many controversies between Ban Khao Lek community and the National Park, which from time to time are severe. Al-though both parties want to solve the conflict, the situation is
2. Forest Landscape Management in National Parks
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worsened by a lack of joint management. Since 2001, Chal-erm Rattanakosin National Park has initiated various activi-ties to manage its land and mitigate such conflicts. The sig-nificant projects are the piloting of sustainable national park management (2001–2006), land ownership assessment, and the Joint Management of Protected Areas or JoMPA (2004–2010) project survey for additional community forest use, and activities in support of forest-friendly livelihoods. The Memorandum of Understanding between Chalerm Rattanakosin National Park and Ban Khao Lek community, signed on 28 November 2008, elaborates on the cooperation in joint and participatory management of protected areas.
The Seub Nakhasathien Foundation is a non-profit organiza-tion working to collaborate between community and Chal-erm Rattanakosin National Park in JoMPA project. It has de-veloped a model based on the cabinet resolution to confine livelihoods areas in the original space and proposed another project owned and implemented by Chalerm Rattanakosin National Park to facilitate conflict resolution mechanism by the officials in accordance with article 19 of the National Park Act.
Diagram 2 represents the steps of area management by community under the legal framework of JoMPA in the Western forest complex (the JoMPA project was autho-rized by DNP on 30 September 2008).
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Target area in community area management under Joint Management of Protected Area project
Areas used prior to
declaring conservation
zone
In both cases of people using the areas prior to declaring conservation zone and after the
declaration but unable to relocate them to other areas as stated in the laws, the area shall be
strictly confined and concrete conditions developed for sustainable conservation.
Areas used after
declaring conservation
zone
Operational approach in accordance with Cabinet Resolution 30th June 1999
Operational approach specified in legal provisions in conservation areas
Activities must be implemented by officials in order
to conserve protected areas
National Park Act (article 19) and regulations
of National Park Department on the operations of officials
in National Park areas 2006 no. 4 (11)
Wild Animal Preservation and Protection Act (article 38 para. 2) and regulations of Royal Forest Department on the operations of officials in National Park areas 1994
(edition 2) no. 3
Work Plan jointly agreed between DNP and Seub Nakhasathien Foundation for project implementation – Responsible agencies are Wildlife Conservation Area/ National Park
and Seub Nakhasathien Foundation
Database setting project for protected areas
management
Community leaders’ capacity building for conservation project
Project to support the sufficient economy
livelihoods
Forest-friendly livelihoodsBorder lines for use areas, community and joint agreements
Community participatory forest management and project development for people to harmoniously live with the forest
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9 Ratkawi Boonmek (2009) Special Zone Border and Joint Management of Protected Area, Doi Pukha National Park, Nan province. Prepared for GMS BCI Thailand Project Seminar on Participatory Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Protected Areas, 21 December 2009, GMS BCI Thailand Office, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok.
Mechanisms for forest border marking prioritize and accept current information from all stakeholders, as shown in Diagram 3.
Diagram 3 Participatory borderline marking process in JoMPA (applied from Raks Thai Foundation, 2009)9
Participatory border marking of special zone
Border encroach-ment and conflict
resolution be-tween officials and villagers
1. Preparation
2. Building mutual understanding
3. Establishing Com-munity Committee
4. Joint border survey
5. Acknowledgement of border line and agree-ment in management
6. Review of regulations and community border
7. Information pre-sented for approval
8. Border marking in the field
9. Follow-up on changes made
• create understanding on border marking with operational team
• tools and equipments preparation• selection of piloted villages
(selection requirements are jointly determined)
• meeting to develop mechanisms for special zoning
• formal/ informal
• training (mapping, GPS, GIS, 3D Model, Remote sensing)
• survey of satellite image/ by air
• spatial marking and record
• draft com-munity regula-tions
• border line survey
• system mapping on land usedenial
• border line acknowl-edgement
• complete map
• complete regulations
regulations
national park, etc.
encroachment
• community • national
park
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The borderline survey result is shown on the Khao Lek map.
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3. Forest landscape management linking with natural systems in diverse areas
T he case study in this area is ecosystem restoration from the mountains to the sea in the
Kuraburi and Kapur watersheds, which are separated into conservation zone and surrounding area. The conservation zone covers forests in national parks such as in Sri Phang-Nga National Park, Laem Son National Park, Klong Naka Wildlife Conservation Area, Khuan Maeyai Mon Wildlife Conservation Area,
and Klong Yan Wildlife Conservation Area. Challenges in many of these conservation areas have not been made clear and have created conflicts with surrounding communities. Apart from that, the related state officials have not actually monitored and worked closely with the communities, resultingin a delay in finding solutions. At the same time, the surround-ing areas, such as in national reserved forests and mangrove forests outside of conservation zones, are also crucial and rich in biodiversity, the same as in conservation areas.
Lower Ranong coastal areas and upper Phang-Nga are full of reserved forests outside of key conservation zones, com-prising numerous forests and mountains such as: Khao Pak Klong Phak Bia, Khao Hua Khao and Khao Bang Nieng, which are located in Koh Kho Khao sub-district; Khao Bang
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Si Fun in Bang Nai Si sub-district, Ta Kua Pa district; Khao Bor Sai in Bang Wan sub-district; Khao Mae Nang Khao in Mae Nang Khao sub-district; Kura sub-district, Kuraburi district; Khao Na Pru Yai in Kampuon sub-district; and Khao Sa Ki Lee in Bang Hin and Kapur sub-district, Kapur district, for instance. In addition, many forests and moun-tains are scattered across these areas. Excluding the mangrove forests, in total this is an extensive area of just over 166 square kilometres. In reality and prac-tice, legal enforcement rarely happens in these forest areas outside the pro-tected zone, resulting in an increasing level of encroachment for residence, agriculture, particularly for rubber trees and palm oil. Hence the forests in these areas are reducing rapidly and are at risk of permanent deforestation in the future. Apart from the encroachment, there are also issues of wildlife smuggling, illegal logging, and wild products collection. Because the areas in national reserved forests are scattered and not connect-ed, the conservation and management are much difficult and challenging.
The management pattern for commu-nity forests aims for community use. Community members can make use of forests in buffer zones and lessen their reliance on conserved forests to improve their quality of life. Eco-friendly agricultural and other livelihoods are supported such as organic farming,
soil and water conservation boundary in steep areas, reforestation, and other activities for extra income-generating, campaigns and education to raise con-science on natural resource conser-vation. The case study for this is the movement of Khao Mae Nang Khao Conservation Network, Kuraburi district, Phang-Nga province, in which commu-nities surrounding this mountain range led by Tungrak village, Bangdip village, and Naitui village conservation groups attempt to consolidate leaders from various villages around Khao Mae Nang Khao range for its conservation. This is the largest national reserved forest in the area. They have eventually formed Khao Mae Nang Khao Conservation Network and jointly conducted conser-vation activities.
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Conclusions and recommendations
A ll six cases are simply a starting point in participa-tory forest ecosystem management for sustainable development in Thailand. The following tasks are
no less challenging and complex, requiring a set of opera-tional tools so that the related officials can carry out their works with effectiveness and flexibility. In the long term, forestlandscape restoration cannot rely on a single technique but should be supported by diverse policy frameworks at the community and national levels. At the operational level, the officials need to understand the impacts of other land use policies on forest restoration and management.
Some interesting recommendations are proposed:10
• It focuses restoration decisions on how best to restore forest functionality (that is, the goods, services and processes that forests deliver), rather than on simply maximizing new forest cover. In other words, FLR is more than just tree-planting.
• It encourages the practitioner to take site-based decisions within a landscape context, ensuring, at the very least, that such decisions do not reduce the quality or quantity of forest-related functions at a landscape level and, ideally, that the decisions con-tribute towards improving landscape-level function-ality.
• It requires that local needs are addressed and balanced alongside national-level priorities and requirements for restoration, thus making local stakeholder involvement in planning and manage-ment decisions and essential component
10 Rietbergen-McCracken, J., Maginnis, S. and Sarre, A. (eds), The Forest Landscape Restoration Handbook. Earthscan Publications, London. .
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• While promoting the need for site-level specialization, it strongly discourages actions that would result in human well-being trad-ed off against ecological integ-rity at the landscape level, or vice versa. Such trade-offs are unsustainable and tend to be counterproductive in the me-dium to long term.
• It recognizes that neither the solutions to complex land-use problems nor the outcomes of particular courses of action can be predicted accurately, espe-cially as ecosystems and land-use patterns change over time. FLR is, therefore, landscape restoration built on adaptive management techniques that require that necessary provi-sions be made for monitoring and learning.
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Annex
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation is operated under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Its missions are to preserve and restore forest resources, wildlife, and plants in conserved forest areas. The department controls and protects existing conserved forests as well as rehabilitates degraded forest by pro-moting and raising awareness for community’s value and participation in local resources management. This is to retain the balance of ecosystems and the environment, together with biodiversity, sources of upstream water, wildlife grounds, food supply, recreational and eco-tourism under the vision of “Diverse landscape, plenty wildlife, sustainable forests.”
The Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) is an NGO for sustainable natural resource con-servation and environmental development which conducts research and works in the field, implements capacity building activities, and supports participatory approach for environ-mental accountability. It works closely with government agencies, the private sector and communities, civil society, regional and international organizations. TEI contributes to the design of environmental policies which encourage environmental advancement significant to Thailand and Asia.
The Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, one of the largest and most active conservation NGOs in Thailand, was established in 1990 in tribute to Seub Nakhasathien, a Royal Forest official who sacrificed his life to make a stand against forest mismanagement. Such loss led to nationwide attention in conservation and stimulated the natural resource conservation in Thai society. This remains the purpose of the foundation and its operations. Among its main activities are supporting and encouraging participatory management of the Thung Yai Naresuan-Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, which was declared a World Heritage by UNESCO, and the Western forest complex, which is the second-largest conserved forest corridor in Southeast Asia. The Foundation initiated the “Fund for Forest Protectors” and “Wildlife Fund” to provide welfare for forest protectors and support research works, includ-ing raising conservation awareness for youth, educational officers, and the general public.
RECOFTC – The Centre for People and Forests is an international non-profit organization with expertise in enhancing capacity on community forestry and disseminating knowledge in forest management. RECOFTC works alongside its strategic networks and partners with government agencies, other NGOs, people’s organizations, local communities, research institutes and other educational institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. With more than 20 years of international experience in dynamic capacity building both in research and analysis, demonstration and training, RECOFTC is able to present innovative and sustainable solutions for peoples and forests.
The Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment Institute (GSEI) was established under the Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment Foundation. Amidst the dynamics of changes in Thai society, GSEI focuses its work on the role of people, realizing the capacity of communities and people in driving social develop-ment, environmental protection, and the research and dissemination of knowledge and understanding which should lead to social and environmental governance. Its works highly emphasize researches for sustainable development which are beneficial both at community and policy levels.
Maps for ten cases of forest landscape management
1. The Tenasserim Corridor Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation
2. Ban Santikiri Reforestation Project, Doi Mae Salong, in honour of the 80th Birthday Anniversary of H. M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej
3. Decentralization of Power and Governance in Forest Landscape Management: The Case of the Mae Ta River Basin, Chiang Mai
4. Landscape Management by the Khao Lek community, Chalerm Rattanakosin National Park
5. Joint Management of Angkarn Mountain…the Legend of the Volcano
6. Rehabilitating Ecosystems from the Mountains to the Sea: The Kuraburi and Kapur Watersheds
7. Biodiversity Conservation Corridor of Mekong Sub-Region
8. Khao Pangma Forest Landscape Restoration – a challenge of climate change
9. Special Zone Border and Joint Management of Protected Area in Doi Puka National Park, Nan province
10. Chi River Basin Restoration
More details on all of these case studies can be found in the documents prepared for the 2009 GMS BCI Thailand seminar on joint management and biodiversity conservation in protected areas, or online at www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/asia/asia_where_work/thailand/publicatons.
IUCN Thailand Programme
63 Sukhumvit Soi 39, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, ThailandTel +66 2 662 4029Fax +66 2 662 4387www.iucn.org/thailand
