Healthy Forest, Healthy People: Remote Sensing and Monitoring Support Implementation of Community Forestry in Thailand

Kaiser, Eric T.; Roberts, Kimberly; Pawkham, Jamlong; Thongdi, Bunsak; Morikawa, Robert; Satre, Doug

doi:10.1109/ghtc.2012.25

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…A community-based approach to conservation has been demonstrated to be successful in the DRC [16], and is seen by some authors as an important component of forest planning policy in the DRC [17]. Elsewhere, authors discuss how community networks have been demonstrated to be an effective way of managing forests at the watershed level in Northern Thailand [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-Based Watershed Change: A Case Study in Eastern Congo

Sabin¹,

Dieudonne²,

Mitchell³

et al. 2019

Forests

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Conflict and environmental degradation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are interrelated and complex. The authors conducted a case study of a community-based environmental restoration project in Eastern Congo and provide early results which suggest a link between community environmental action and multidimensional outcomes such as peace and reconciliation. The project examined in this study is based on a framework (Theory of Change) which networks communities through autonomous savings groups, churches, mosques, schools, and a community leadership network with the goal of catalyzing sustainable farming, reforestation, and community forest management. The primary project input was training, and the resulting voluntary community action included tree planting and the management of common forest areas. A mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate project results comparing two watersheds, and included a difference in differences analysis, participatory workshops, remote sensing analysis, and community activity reports. Positive change was observed in the treatment watershed in terms of ecosystem health and household economic condition. Results suggest a possible influence on peace conditions which, while fragile, offers hope for continued restorative action by communities. This study provides evidence that a community-based approach to environmental restoration may have a positive influence on multidimensional issues such as forests, watershed health, economic well-being, and peace.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-Based Watershed Change: A Case Study in Eastern Congo

Sabin¹,

Dieudonne²,

Mitchell³

et al. 2019

Forests

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“…(Kongkeaw et al, 2019). This significantly showed that external support is necessary for the success in CFM (Pagdee et al, 2006;Kaiser et al, 2012;Kongkeaw et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methods and Methodology Used In Successful Cfmmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Additionally, remote sensing technology was used to assess three-year changes on community forest vegetation cover. This monitoring could be used as an overall metric to indicate long-term CFM efficacy (Kaiser et al, 2012). Although the boundaries of Lainan's community forests were clearly defined (Anonymous, 2009), long-term monitoring of the community forest ecosystem status in the future is still necessary, as mentioned in section 5.6.…”

Section: Methods and Methodology Used In Successful Cfmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of remote sensing technology seems to be applicable for monitoring gas regulation (effectiveness to mitigate global warming through carbon sequestration in aboveground biomass) and reforestation (changes of the forest areas) in the future participatory assessment of community forest ecosystem functions as it is less expensive and time-consuming compared to traditional field surveys (Kaiser et al, 2012). However, only a challenge to apply this technology to the Lainan's community forests is a need of training local stakeholders to be proficient with it.…”

Section: Methods and Methodology Used In Successful Cfmmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecosystem function assessment and participatory modelling for community forest management at Lainan Subdistrict, Wiang Sa District, Nan Province

Wimolsakcharoen

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Community forest management (CFM) is one way used to mitigate deforestation and forest degradation which have been occurring for more than half a century, particularly in northern Thailand. The collaboration in CFM, especially at multiple scales (e.g. subdistrict, district, or provincial levels) is essential to improve a forest ecosystem status and avoid forest degradation risks in the future. Recently, integrative and participatory modelling methodologies, specifically the Companion Modelling (ComMod), have been implemented in the context of sustainable common-pool resource management in several regions of the world. However, the application of this approach in CFM across institutional scales has still been challenging. Therefore, this research aimed to assess community forest ecosystem functions at the seven villages of Lainan Subdistrict, Wiang Sa District, Nan Province, and conduct a participatory modelling and simulation process to promote collaborative CFM at the subdistrict scale. Ecologically conventional and participatory assessments of ecosystem functions were performed to assess community forest ecosystem status. Lainan's community forests have officially been operating for nearly 50 years. There were 67 tree species, 18 orders of soil fauna, 105 wild mushroom species, and 183 non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Among these diverse NTFPs, Melientha suavis, Oecophylla smaragdina's queen broods, and wild edible mushrooms were identified as the three common NTFPs at this site with the productivity of 2, 12, and 2 kg/ha/y, respectively. The results from the participatory assessment showed that the forest status scores of all villages ranged from 233 to 322 of 500 points. Only village 3 obtained good for its community forest ecosystem status while the other villages' status was moderate. However, all villages were still facing forest degradation risks. Following this preliminary diagnostic analysis, a ComMod process including two participatory modelling and simulation sequences was implemented with 48 local stakeholders. The results showed that this iterative and evolving process could stimulate the integration of scientific and local knowledge through the exchanges of viewpoints, perceptions, knowledge, and experiences among local stakeholders, as well as between them and researchers. Moreover, it also supported collective decision-making among them as two CFM collective action plans at the subdistrict scale were proposed, including establishment of firebreaks and management options to deal with the over-harvesting of non-timber forest products by outsiders. In summary, the participatory assessment generated a shared understanding on the community forest ecosystem status and the participatory modelling and simulation approach supported collaborative CFM at the subdistrict scale. To translate the proposed CFM plans into actual collective action, focus group discussions and further participatory gaming and simulation sessions need to be enhanced by enrolling diverse stakeholders across generations, especially young local villagers. The participatory assessment and modelling process used in this case study would be useful to improve collaborative CFM at higher institutional scales or at other sites facing the similar problems.

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