A recent project in Northeast Thailand has motivated local communities to play an active role in protecting their forests and could serve as a model for other areas
Wirat and Thongjan Sidaduang farm a small plot adjacent to the boundary of the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand's Chaiyaphum province. They have a few acres of rice, some fruit trees, a fish pond where ducks are feeding and a mud kiln for making charcoal. The rice is a beautiful, translucent green as the afternoon sun lights it up towards the end of the rainy season.
"Our farm does not make us rich," Wirat says, "but we can manage."
It was not always like this. Not long ago Wirat spent much of his time inside the sanctuary, dodging the rangers and making his living by hunting birds and small animals, cutting trees and collecting bamboo shoots. Even his charcoal kiln was inside the boundary. The change has been dramatic, not only for Wirat and Thongjan but also for many of the 11,000 households who live in the Phu Khieo 'buffer zone.'
"Until a few years ago our forestry officers never reached out to the villages beyond the sanctuary boundaries," says Dr Kanjana Nitaya of the Wildlife Conservation Bureau. "The farmers did their best to avoid them and hamper their work. Villagers attacked and burned down two of our protection units."
Dr Kanjana and her colleagues spearheaded a project designed to engage with local communities and encourage them to understand the importance of protecting the sanctuary while at the same time addressing the livelihood issues that led to their encroachment.
They targeted 65 'buffer zone' villages whose lands touched the sanctuary boundary with awareness and information campaigns, mainly through a local FM radio station.
"The numbers of on-air phone calls show how popular the forest protection programmes are," says DJ Manit Udombua, who was delighted to get good quality material that boosted the station's audience while requiring almost no budget.
To change behaviour as well as attitudes the project established a network of 'model farmers' who serve as demonstrators of appropriate production systems, emphasising the 'sufficiency' and low-cost, environmentally friendly methods advocated by Thailand's revered King.
Supporting community forestry organisations has been the project's farthest-reaching strategy, helping to introduce sustainable management systems for small areas of forest near to but outside the sanctuary.
"The project helped us incorporate six other villages," says Mongkhon Khamyang, a member of the Na Somboon village group's management committee.
The group drew up rules to control forest access, with activities allowed or restricted depending on the season and the committee's assessment of whether particular plants can be collected and small animals can be hunted sustainably. One thousand households have agreed to use the community forest under a set of regulations they have all signed up to.
In 2006 the Department of National Parks recognised Phu Khieo as its best-managed sanctuary, welcome recognition for Dr Kanjana and her staff that helps promote their approach and methods in Thailand's 54 other wildlife sanctuaries. The extent to which it is copied will ultimately be the measure of the project's success.
Much remains to be done before the future of Thailand's environmental heritage can be considered safe; but showing how to turn some of the sanctuary's enemies into its allies, poachers into gamekeepers, has been an important step forward.
"We have really changed now," says Wirat. "The patrols are more difficult to avoid, and the project helped us improve our farms to meet our basic needs. But to be honest, after attending the meetings and demonstrations we all feel a bit ashamed about our past activities and we don't want to damage the forest any more."
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