Of the total 513,000 km2 land area of Thailand, 23 to 25 percent has forest cover. This, however, includes all types of forests, pararubber plantations and reforestation initiatives.

Tropical evergreen forest accounts for 10 percent of the forested area, mixed deciduous forest 9 percent, dry dipterocarp forest 5 percent, pararubber 4 percent, and swamp, shrub, pine, bamboo and mangrove forests account for 1 percent. National Parks account for 9.5 percent of Thailand's surface area, 6.5 percent for Protected Wildlife Sanctuaries, and about 0.5 percent was designated Non-Hunting Areas.

The National Forest Policy of 1985 and the 8th National Economic and Social Development Plan called for 25 percent of the total land area of the country to be classified as conservation forest. Conflicts arose as the Conservation Forest Decree forbids people from inhabiting national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and A1 watershed areas. In the North, upland dwellers have been in the area long before the promulgation of the law.

Important policies and legislations, meanwhile, have provided opportunities for greater community participation in forest management. The Tambon (Sub District) Administration Organization Act (TAO Act) of 1992 strengthens the role of village government in forest planning and utilization. The Decentralization Act of 1998 sets the guidelines for community representation to the Tambon Council.

The past decade saw growing recognition of ethnic practices in forest management within policies formulated. In 1997, the National Constitution (Article 45 on Decentralization Policy) has vested traditional communities with rights and duties to manage resources where they live. Rituals like forest ordinations and establishment of spirit forest are traditional practices of many northern hill tribes like the Hmong and Karen. Once forest spirits are identified and honored, communities will be careful not to disturb or upset them.

Building on local beliefs and traditions could play a pivotal role in the overall management strategy of Thailand's forests. Community capacities can be harnessed to contribute to management through the enactment of a meaningful Community Forestry Bill.

What is community forest management?

In the Thai context, CFM is a complex issue pitting communities against urban nature conservationists. But while the still pending Community Forestry Bill has been generally believed to sustain the country's forests and natural resources, disagreement remains wide on the interpretation of CFM and the scope of its implementation.

Disparity focuses on the following issues: to whom lies decision-making power, who are the communities eligible to practice CFM, and will the bill include conservation and protected areas. Already, the Forest Decree forbids forest dwellers from inhabiting national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and prime watershed areas. In the North, most communities have been in the area long before the promulgation of the law. Around five million hectares of national parks are under a protected area system. Lobbying on the bill has been strong in Bangkok where conservationists are nervous that forest dwelling will cause major water problems for the city in the future.

Where are the CFM areas?

Most CFMs occur naturally in the Northeast and North of Thailand where ethnic communities and other local Thai forest dwellers still practice traditional and sustainable forms of forest management. A national inventory conducted by the Royal Forest Department in 1992 documented 12,000 rural groups protecting forest patches ranging in size from as few as one hectare to as many as 4,000 hectares. As of 1998, there are around 1,000 community forests in the Northeast and 300 in the North where traditional management systems are practiced in at least 328,000 hectares in the Northern uplands.

The following are bills and legislated policies relating to CFM:

• Community Forest Bill (started in 1994 and still pending in Congress)
• Tambon Administration Organization (TAO) Act (1994) which strengthens the role of village governments in forest use, planning and decision making
• National Constitution (Article 45 on Decentralization Policy) in 1997 providing traditional communities the right and duty to manage resources in their area
• Decentralization Act of 1998 providing guidelines for the election of community representatives to the Tambon Council
• National Park Act
• Environmental Act
• National Forest Reserve Act
• Forestry Act

Mae Khan Watershed

The Mae Khan is a sub-watershed of Ping basin which consists of six major tributaries including Mae Wang, Bo Kaew, Samoeng, Mae Sab, mae land and Mae Khanin. The Mae Khan river, originating from Samoeng District, flows eastward and down below to the South before merging with ping river in San Pa Tong District. Its elevation ranges from 270 to more than 2,000 meters above sea level.

Four major ethnic groups inhabit the Mae Khan watershed. There are the Karen, local northern Tha, Hmong and Lsiu.

Today, there are two main strategies in pursuing watershed management throughout the country. The first incorporates community development while the second emphasizes watershed conservation and rehabilitation. These strategies, especially the first one, comes from the philosophy of "coexisting between man and forest" in a reciprocal manner.

Huay Pong Village

Total land area: 1,196 ha
Forestland: 947 ha
Area under CFM: 333 ha (protection forest), 80 ha (utilization forest)
Population: 412

Located approximately 500 meters above sea level, Huay Pong Village is inhabited by 412 local Thai (102 households). Arriving in the area between the 1900 and 1950, the Thai people have since dwelt on the valley floor with their paddy lands and mixed fruit and tree gardens (suan). The village serves as the administrative seat for Mae Win Sub-district.

Until the early 70s, Huay Pong was densely forested, especially on the surrounding ridges and hills. The entry of a timber concessionaire in 1974 changed the forest landscape and even turned villagers into hired hands for tree felling and extraction. When the timber company left the area, the Thai communities also began felling smaller trees. Logover hillsides were cleared to plant rainfed rice. Slowly the Thai communities started to feel the adverse impacts of the degraded forest: surface water runoff and increased erosion during rainy season, decreased spring water during dry season, altered microclimate, and drastic decease in wild animals.

CFM in Huay Pong entails the establishment of protected forest and communal woodlands. The village established in 1992 a 400-hectare protected forest (Pa Anurak) and utilized forest (Pa Chai Soi). Rules were subsequently laid down in 1992 and revised in 2000.

The 1992 rules state that illegal felling of trees, setting of fires, opening of new fields for agriculture and hunting within the protected forest will be fined from B100 to B20,000 depending on which offense is committed and its gravity. Collection of non-timber forest products including bamboo shoots and mushrooms are allowed however.

The 2000 rules require approval from the village committee of all timber felling for household construction. Further, persons who destroy the forest will be charged by the Community Forestry Committee of Ban Huay Pong in accordance with the Forestry Law.

The CF Committee is in charge of getting villagers together for an annual maintenance of their 4-kilometer firebreak separating protected forests from utilized forests and agricultural lands.

Khun Wang Village

Total land area: 2,055 ha
Forestland: 1,795 ha
Area under CFM: 625 ha (forest area), 623 ha (protection forest), 480 ha (utilization forest)
Population: 713

Located at 1200 meters above sea level, Khun Wang is populated by 713 Hmong comprising 98 households. They moved from southern China and Laos into Northern Thailand over 100 years ago and settled to Mae Khan Watershed and finally to Khun Wang during World War II. Before the introduction of crop substitution program, the Hmong planted opium, corn, upland rice, and vegetables. For agricultural crop production, field sites are selected by village elders. The Hmong relies heavily on the forests for firewood. Recent introduction of the liquefied petroleum gas has lessened the dependence on wood for fuel.

The Khun Wang has classified forest management based on the following:

• Spirit forest (Dong Seng)
• Protection Forest (Cher joh kuh)
• Utilization Forest (Cher shee)
• Agricultural Land
• Settlement Land

Pa Gluay-Pom Lom Raeng Village

Total land area: 2,238 ha
Forestland: 1,678 ha
Area under CFM: 1,125 ha (protection forest), 552 ha (utilization forest), 1 ha (spirit forest)
Population: 75 households

The Karen people inhabit Ban Pa Gluay and Pong Lom Raeng. The two villages are located at 1,000 meters elevation in the upper valleys of the Mae Wang sub-watershed. Being experienced wet rice cultivators, the Karen people have developed small irrigation system to water their rice paddies.

Not far from the village are the forest garden (tasuloh tasah) and swidden (bekuh) land. Young secondary forest and scrub are cleared in these areas to plant dry rice, corn and other field crops. These are allowed to fallow however while some swidden lands have been left untouched for years to allow natural forest regeneration.

It was in the mid-70s after an access road was constructed that forest exploitation set into the village. Merchants came to the villages to buy aromatic Kai tree bark and rattan. This, coupled with intense forest fire in the mid-1980s intense forest fire left many trees dead. Wildlife population, stream water and the microclimate were adversely affected.

There are three traditional forest management classes in the Karen villages:

• Spirit Forest (Pa Duta) is fortified forest serving as home of the spirits
• Headwater Forests (Pa tikuaki) comprise small stands of forest around springs and other water sources
• Utilization Forest (Pa Suah) is used for subsistence felling of trees for house construction and collection of NTFPs.

The community also has the 1986 Forest Management Rules which states the following:

• Selling of timber to outside merchants is prohibited. Sales of NTFPs, however, is permitted.
• Felling of trees for subsistence use, including house repairs, is allowed upon getting permission from the village committee.
• Poachers are not allowed in village forests.

Watershed Conservation Management Office

Formerly Watershed Management Division under the Royal Forest Department, the Watershed Conservation and Management Office (WCMO) is now a government agency attached to the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation under the newly-created Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The WCMO has over 30 years of experience in watershed rehabilitation through reforestation, development of land use patterns that reduce shifting cultivation, and conflict management. Participatory approaches to integrated watershed management including developing the economic welfare of people in watersheds are now being used as one of the strategies. As of 2000, the WCMO has carried out participatory approaches in over 600 villages in northern Thailand.

WCMO is an AFN partner implementing community forest management support project in the Mae Khan Watershed, Chiang Mai Province. Support for capacity-building is being given to watershed unit managers, local administrative staff, elected community representatives and community members in the Mae Khan watershed. The objective is to develop strategies to implement recent national decentralization and democratization policies, and test approaches in anticipation of the ratification of the Community Forestry Bill.

Thai Working Group on Community Forest Management

The TWG-CFM was formed in March 2000 initially consisting of people from the Watershed Management Division of the Royal Forest Department, Department of Local Administration and World Wildlife Fund for Nature. Strengthening collaborative action among the RFD, the Tambon Administration Organization, and local people is the TWG's strategy to support community forest management. The TWG intends to develop and refine methods for community-local government dialogue regarding forest management in the Upper Ping watershed that could expand into neighboring areas in the future.

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE)

Established in October 2002, the MNRE's policy framework toward natural resources management could be summarized as the following:

1. Assessment of potential and situation of existing natural resources as well as its diversification.
2. Natural resources protection, conservation and management for achieving productivities and fulfilling needs of the society.
3. Develop access of natural resources use and its regulations based on equal benefit sharing.
4. Determine sustainable utilization measures in regard to R&D information.

National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (NWPD)

This new department was set up under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The NWPD is responsible for flora and fauna conservation and management especially in protected forestlands whether national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, watersheds or special designated areas. It was detached from the Royal Forest Department even as the rest has remained attached to RFD.

Community forest management in the areas supervised by NWPD is still controversial at present as a result of the pending CF Bill. Nevertheless, given the present context, efforts are being made to support communities especially those with existing forest management activities in upland and highland areas. A network of watershed management stations under the office of Watershed Conservation and Management are drawing in community participation in various watershed implementation activities of the stations. This is being done through facilitating inter-village meetings, community study tours, CF networks and can study documentation.

Royal Forest Department (RFD)

Formerly attached to the Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperatives, the Royal Forest Department, like the NWPD, has now joined the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The RFD is mandated to oversee government forestlands excluding the protected areas declared by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

On CFM, RFD has Community Forest Management Office to carry out support activities and implementation. In general, this office is responsible for (1) CF implementing under Community Forest Act and other relevant decrees (2) conduct R&D in community forestry as well as agro-forestry and (3) develop linkages with other parties involved in CFM.

Tambon Administration Organization (TAO)

Created in 1994 under the Tambon Council and Tambon Administration Organization Act, this local government unit is resulted from a policy toward decentralization and participation of local people. Its mandates are widescoped ranging from infrastructures, education, public health, social services, natural resources and environments. Its authorities are limited in the extent of Tambon (sub-district), which is comprised of 15-20 villages on the average.