Community forests capture hearts, minds

       Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc joins forces with Thailand's Royal Forest Department to develop a new generation of woodland guardians
       Story and photos by PURICH TRIVITAYAKHUN CHIANG MAI
       During a brief discussion before he rejoined his group, Kiettisak Jaiban, 13, said that he had never been more enthused to protect and preserve his "community forest". He and his campmates were preparing to present their findings after hours of trekking in a forest in Chiang Mai province.
       Kiettisak was one of the many students at the camp who came from communities located near a forest. Such communities have been benefiting from their forests generation after generation. When the camp came to an end, all of the other attendants probably felt the same way as Kiettisak did - that the preservation of community forests is one of their vital tasks as good citizens. Camp foliage
       Kiettisak made his comments at an event that took place last month. The Royal Forest Department, in collaboration with Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc ("Ratch"), had arranged for 80 high school students from Ratchaburi province and three other northern provinces - Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Lamphun - to participate in the "Kla Yim Youth Camp".(Kla yim usually means dare to smile, but this phrase can also be a play on words to mean "smiling sprouts", as in encouraging youths to smile.)
       The camp, one of the activities carried out in the "Love the Forest and the Community" campaign, was initiated by the two entities. The Young People Development Centre was involved as co-organiser of the camp, which was held in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, a reservation adjacent to Chiang Mai city.
       "This is the second time that we are holding this kind of camp," said Prayut Thongsuwan, Ratch's executive vicepresident of corporate administration.This year, most of the campers had been selected from communities that use community forests, whereas last year most of the campers were students from Bangkok.
       "We wish to foster a sense of environmental awareness among youngsters so that they will love and protect local natural resources. The most important objective of this camp is to attain a new generation that will continue the work of the current generation in taking care of community forests. We believe that in this way, we can effectively and efficiently ensure the long-term existence of community forests," Mr Prayut explains. For posterity
       Currently, Thailand has approximately 90 million rai (14.4 million hectares)covered by forests. Of this area, around 2.7 million rai (432,000 hectares) are designated as community forests, which fall under the responsibility of 7,700 communities scattered all over the country.Nearly half of the community forest land,or approximately 1.3 million rai (208,000 hectares), is in the northern region of Thailand.
       The crux of the community forest concept, according to Pralong Dumrongthai, director of the Community Forest Management Bureau in the Royal Forest Department, is to foster the well-being of the people who live in the communities adjoining or surrounding such forests.
       Human activities inside forest reserves,such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, are strictly controlled by the government. In contrast, a community forest is that part of a national reserve where the community of people living nearby is permitted by the government to benefit from the forest's resources.
       However, activities that are actually carried out inside the community forest have to be approved and supervised by the Royal Forest Department and a community committee responsible for the community forest.
       "We want to reduce the household expenses of the local residents and increase their income," said Mr Pralong."That does not mean, however, that the focus is on encouraging the communities to only sell products obtained from their forests. On the contrary, we have a programme of activities that stresses the need for them to maintain and protect these natural treasures as they are the ones benefiting from them, and we hope that they will respond positively," he added.
       At the camp, Mr Pralong gave a presentation on the overall objectives of establishing community forests. Green food bank
       Personal experience is worth more than a thousand words. One of the ranges of activities at the camp was the visit by campers to the Ban Talad Khilek community forest in Doi Saket district, to the northeast of Chiang Mai city.
       Even though many campers have been living around forests all their life, this was a good opportunity for them to gain hands-on experience about the functions of forests and how experts manage them.
       There, the campers trekked a twokilometre trail through a forest in bloom at the end of the rainy season. They spotted wild flowers, orchids, mushrooms and herbs like Do Mai Ru Rom , the prickly-leaved elephant's foot plant;Sab Sua , or bitter bush;Makham Pom , the Malacca tree; and many other types of vegetation.
       Along the walk, committee members of the Ban Talad Khilek community forest were present at several stations to dispense information to the youngsters upon their arrival there. The information provided at the stations covered topics like the functions of check dams and the management of herbs and bamboo.
       "The villagers now earn higher incomes than they did before," said Somboon Thaiyanto, head of the Ban Talad Khilek community forest committee and the chief guide who led the students through the forest.
       Various products from the forest, such as herbs and mushrooms, are collected and sold among the villagers themselves."We don't want them to sell these items to outsiders because the forest will cease to be sustainable if the products are commercialised," said Mr Somboon.
       "A long time ago, outside investors carried out logging in the area. Nowadays,the villagers help preserve the forest.We have to do this for our children," he added.
       Mr Somboon said that what he hoped the campers gained from their visit was not only knowledge about the forest,but also an appreciation of the importance of the ideas for managing a community forest, so that the youngsters would carry on the concepts learned at Ban Talad Khilek and apply them to local community forests.
       After returning from the community forest, the next day the young campers had the chance to trek through the forest in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park to observe the differences between the two forests. Besides trekking and learning more about different kinds of forests,the campers engaged in several other activities that raised their awareness of environmental conservation. Friends of the forests
       "The healing powers of local herbs are the same as those of expensive foreign medicines!" Ngamsiri Kladnuam said excitedly upon learning about the properties of several herbs found in the Ban Talad Khilek community forest.
       "I've seen many herbs that I cannot find in my community. For example,the fruit of the Malacca tree can alleviate thirst and sore throats, and Sab Sua can stop bleeding," said Ngamsiri, revealing her newfound knowledge enthusiastically."Check dams can prevent floods,act as water reservoirs, and maintain the moisture in forests. On special occasions, community members gather to help each other build a check dam.This fosters local harmony, too."
       Unlike Kiettisak, who lives in Chiang Mai, this 14-year-old girl from Ratchaburi does not live near any forest and had never attended a forest camp before.Her participation in last month's camp has made her permanently aware of what it means to go "green". She said that when she returned home, she would take steps to promote in her school the creation of more green areas in her neighbourhood, as well as tell her schoolmates about the many benefits of forests.
       As for Kiettisak, he said that when he returned to his home in Mae Rim district,he would inform as many of his fellow community members as possible of how everyone could effectively manage a satisfactory level of income from selling herbs, vegetables and mushrooms plucked from their community forest."Right now, we mostly consume all of the products that we collect and sell only a small portion [to outsiders]," said the child who has grown up alongside a forest."At the camp, I learned the names of many more plants and herbs, what their properties are, and how to grow and use them."
       Kiettisak agreed that the camp added to his knowledge."I will return home and try my best to disseminate what I have learned from this camp to my friends - such as, information on rare and new kinds of herbs, and how to grow, use and preserve them," Kiettisak promised,adding that he would spread the news in his school first and later try to find ways to expand the coverage to include his entire community. Future devotees
       Ratch has stated that the company is willing to support the youngsters if they want to initiate future projects or actions to preserve their community forests after they return to their communities.
       In the end, these little hands will one day become a major force in ensuring the continued existence of community forests, thereby enabling humans and nature to successfully exist together in harmony.
       "People and forests have to depend on one another. If we don't have forests,it will be very difficult for us to survive or earn a living. If the forests don't have people who love and understand them,they will be unprotected from the risks of abuse and destruction," said Kiettisak.