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This paper describes an early example of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), which resulted from collaboration between a university, local community, and national park authority in the upper Mae Sa Valley, near Chiang Mai City, northern Thailand. Working together, the Hmong community of Ban Mae Sa Mai, Doi Suthep National Park Authority and Chiang Mai University’s Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU-CMU) established a chronosequence of trial restoration plots from 1996 to 2013, to test the framework-species method of forest restoration. The project developed successful restoration techniques and gained insights into the factors that influence villagers’ participation in forest restoration. Recovery of forest biomass, carbon storage, structure, biodiversity and ecological functioning exceeded expectations. Villagers appreciated the improved water security resulting from the project, as well as a better relationship with the park authority and increased land security. Recently, however, tree chopping and a breakdown in fire-prevention measures (perhaps symptoms of “project fatigue”) have threatened the sustainability of the plot system. The project demonstrates the importance of a sound scientific basis for forest restoration projects, long-term institutional support, and appropriate funding mechanisms, to achieve sustainability.

Fig (Ficus spp.) trees have been promoted as framework species for tropical forest restoration throughout Asia, because they are considered to be keystone species. This article presents optimal propagation and planting techniques for six Asian dioecious Ficus species, which will enable their inclusion in forest restoration plantings across the Asia-Pacific region: Ficus auriculata, F. fulva, F. hispida, F. oligodon, F. semicordata, and F. variegata. Nursery experiments compared the growth performance of propagating planting stock from seed and from leafy cuttings, whereas field experiments assessed the costeffectiveness and the relative performance of (1) direct seeding, (2) planting stock from seed, and (3) planting stock from cuttings. The most efficient method of producing Ficus spp. was from seed. Propagation from cuttings was much less successful. Seedlings produced from seed had the highest rates of growth and survival both in the nursery and in field trials. In field trials, use of planting stock from seed was also more cost-effective than direct seeding and vegetative propagation. Establishment costs calculated on the basis of "per plant established" were $1.14 for seed, $6.95 for cutting, and $25.88 for direct seeding.

Since 1994, the Forest Restoration Research Unit of Chiang Mai University's Biology Department (FORRU-CMU) has been developing methods to restore forest ecosystems to deforested sites within protected areas, for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection in northern Thailand. With support from WWF Greater Mekong Thailand Country Programme and corporate sponsor King Power Duty Free, the unit is working with Hmong hill tribe villagers from Baan Mae Sa Mai, in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, to expand a demonstration site for the ''framework species method'' of forest restoration. The technique entails planting 20 to 30 indigenous forest tree species, capable of rapidly shading out weeds and attracting seed-dispersing animals from nearby forest remnants. This results in rapid increase in tree species richness, progressing towards the species composition of the original forest, as well as overall biodiversity recovery. FORRU-CMU operates a research tree nursery, where innovative tree propagation techniques are developed, and a community-based nursery and education centre, where the practicability of those techniques is tested by local villagers. The nurseries and the demonstration field trials have become a popular training facility where visiting foresters and conservationists, both from Thailand and neighbouring countries, can learn effective forest restoration methods. FORRU-CMU provides a model for formulating a strategy to apply the framework species method to restore larger degraded sites within Thailand's protected areas system.

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