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Over 200 people from across the country joined the annual gathering of community forest conservation groups this year. |
Conservation Groups from across Thailand Gather for Harvest Festival in Trat
9 January -- “At home, we are in trouble. But I still want to come to meet my friends,” said Ayi-Awae from Pattani. Ayi and a few members of a conservation group in Pattani travelled over 1000 kilometres to Trat Province to join the annual gathering of a network of 49 community forest groups from around Thailand.
The ‘Harvest Festival’, or Khao Mai Pla Mun, has been held annually since 2005 to provide a chance for the network to talk about their experiences, discuss their problems, exchange lessons learnt, and to share their regional delicacies. The network grew as a result of small grants support from the European Commission which was managed by UNDP from 2002 to 2007.
Over 200 people from across the country participated in the three-day gathering, hosted this year by the community forest group in Trat together with local administrative bodies, and partially funded by UNDP.
Apart from the discussions on the theme of eco-tourism, there were also brainstorming sessions on policy advocacy, conflicts over resource allocation, using local traditions to support environmental protection, and on global warming.
Community forests are an effective forest management system long adopted by Thai villagers. The management system is based on collective local knowledge and principles of community rights and ethics to ensure sustainable livelihoods.
The efforts of these small groups across the country have helped preserve the remaining forest areas in Thailand.
One of their immediate challenges is how to sustain the network. The funding that brought them together has stopped, but the bond between these groups continues. They are finding ways and means to keep the network going as they feel that it is a channel for them to support one another. As Ayi puts it, “allthough there are conflicts and killings [in the South]; we still have to make a living, we have to look after our environment.”
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For more information, please contact:
Nick Keyes:
nicholas.keyes@undp.org; UNDP Thailand; 02 288 1814; (Mobile) 085 115
7236
Punnipa Ruangtorsak: punnipa.ruangtorsak@undp.org; UNDP Thailand;
02 288 2130; (Mobile) 081 398 6064
