Thailand Deforestation

[Bruce551]

Thailand's borders with Laos and Cambodia are reflected by the brown on the Thai side in this true-colour satellite image, which shows the effects of heavy deforestation in the country.

Between 1945 and 1975 forest cover in Thailand dropped from 61% to 34% of the country’s land area. Over the next 11 years Thailand lost close to 28% of all of their remaining forests. This means that they were losing 3.1% of their forest cover each year over that period.

Politics of Dynamic Deforestation in Thailand

Prepared by Thai NGOs Working Group

Thailand case study begins with the profile of geo-ecological cultures in Thailand. Then the case study focused on 3 communities in Thailand and their forestry problems. The three case studies indicated that politic dynamics of deforestation stemmed from various elements, starting from a policy-making level and an idea of decentralisation, surrounded by Thai economic and politic factors.

Ban Klang village is located in a fertile forest area with several creek sources where in the past were dense with teaks. The Ban Klang forests can be divided into 3 types: evergreen forest, sundry forest and deciduous forest.

Ban Klang community has lost the forest from several causes which are forestry concessions and illegal forestry concessions by Businessmen and Mafia. The forestry concessions and the illegal forestry concessions has resulted in several natural crises in Ban Klang. Creeks have been short of water, rice cultivation has been unsuccessful due to drought and creeks and streams have become shallow by earth coming down from the declining forest.

At present, the state of declining of the forest is worsening. The forest area of river sources have been destroyed which has affected the existence of living things and the richness of the watersheds. Therefore, the villagers have considered the causes of the problems and tried to rehabilitate, maintain and protect the water source forests that have been destroyed. They have got together and established "Ban Klang Community Forest Committee" with the objective to make community cooperate with community and community with government, promote the knowledge and the understanding of forestry preservation, find methods and cooperation to rehabilitate the invaded and declining forests for the Maemai and the Maetum creeks can be sources of life essential supply for the people living around the watersheds.

The adaptation to protect the forests and the community’s activities have resulted in increased fertility in the forests around the village. The villagers have realised that the community survival is based on common elements from the forests. The way of life of the villagers highly depends on the nature, therefore, the villagers see the importance of the forest rehabilitation and protection.

The author explains although the villagers have the new forest management system and can implement it efficiently, the government does not accept and recognise the community’s organization. Therefore, the regulations can be imposed only on the community’s members but not on outsiders that break them.

The Nong Yo community forest has a forest area of 1,557 rai. The forest is a mixture between the hardwood and the evergreen forests. The Nong Yo forest is surrounded by 8 communities either original or new settlers. The communities’ main career is agriculture and labouring to Bangkok and other big cities.

Around 1967, the Tammai company is Surin province was granted forestry concessions in the forest area to produce sleepers and firewood. The forest became sparse and people could expand their cultivation areas to grow upland plants. In 1979 Forest Industry Organisation (FIO) hired by Tammai company started to restore back the forest and rehabilitate the damaged forest area by planting wattle, eucalyptus an Melia azedlarach.

The author mentions that the Eucalyptus Garden-Like Reforestation Project over the communities’ cultivation area has caused trouble, such as economic, social and poverty problems, because the communities have lost a vast cultivation area, the decreasing level of underground water, the forest area are arid, the soil is not fertile, natural trees have been cut for use and various breeds of animals have been extinct.

Because of the impacts on the 8 villages, a protest was made to the involved organizations to cancel the garden-like forest status. The Nong Yo forest rehabilitation plan was offered as a forest management that would be run by the communities around the forest.

Satoon is a province located on the Andaman sea side. It is in southern Thailand and has 2 geographical types which are mountainous areas covered with forests (land forest) and The shore on the Andaman sea side. Most forest areas in Satoon are in the north of the province. There are 18 preserved forests in Satoon which cover 729,980.55 rai or 47.12% of the province.

The author provides data of the rate of deforestation in Satoon province. It is stated that Satoon lost a forest area of 170,625 rai within 5 years or on average 34,125 rai/year or 93,49 rai/day. The causes are illegal forestry concessions for trade; community expansion to make a living and to have inherited land from their ancestors; and area expansion for good breeds of rubber tree plantation. Due to the mention causes, the case study provides a list of arrests and legal claims proceeded by officers of the conserved national park of Ban Sea and officers at the provincial police station of Satoon province.

The case study distinguish the communities’ conditions into 3 cathegories which are communities that have strong organisations, communities that have medium-strength organisations and communities that have no firm organisations cannot get together to solve the problems. The first communities give the first priority to the right to make a iving in the forest area, the second cooperate with outsider while he third ones are fixed targets for not everlastingly utilising the forests.

In the presentation of the case studies the author noted that the causes of deforestation in Thailand are forestry concessions, expansion of cash crops, failure of problem-solving in land occupation and the issue of land license, illegal logging, reforestation by private business, infrastructure, purchase of land for profit anticipation, and people loosing power and rights to control their resources and knowledge.

The author also singled out the underlying causes of deforestation in Thailand, which are liberal capitalism, economic growth policy, state centralised natural resource management, the weakening of civil society and the gap of worldview in each sector.

A number of solution were proposed to counter deforestation including supporting alternative agriculture, suppoting watershed management and network, and good managing of forest by stopping removing people out of forest, supporting community forest and allowing local community and civil society to participate natural resource management at all level.

See this NGO trying to help.

Population And Community Development Association [PDA]

http://www.pda.or.th/eng/background.asp?Menu=31

[eagle]

dam shame !