Questions/Answers

Khok Huai Wang Saeng forest in Ban Pa Phrao community, Nong Makhuea Subdistrict, Phon District, Khon Kaen, Thailand. The size of this deciduous dipterocarp forest is approximately 500 acres. For several years, the people in the community have been using natural resources from the forest for living, especially as food and medicine. However, it has been reported that the forest has been severely damaged from improper utilization such as burning the forest for animal hunting, illegal logging. These activities might occur from the lack of knowledge or from the selfishness of people. Aside from the forest encroachment, the lack of engagement in environmental conservation was another key problem. If these problems remain unsolved and there is no way to efficiently solve them, Khok Huai Wang Saeng forest risks being destroyed, which would impact the lives of 71 households (274 people) in Ban Paphrao community. A question arose out of these problems: how could we stop forest encroachment, restore the forest, and create a balance between forest utilization and forest conservation? Nong Makhuea Subdistrict Administrative Organization, have made a project “Living Well by Forest, Living Forest by Good People” was initiated by Nong Makhuea SAO in 2017 in order to solve the encroachment problem and to restore the forest by encouraging engagement and expanding the knowledge and understanding of the citizens. The important key of this project is to change the intruders into the protectors under takes joint from every sector to provide support in personnel, budget, equipment, and operational management. The project aims to build a strong foundation of forest utilization which allows people in and near the community to use the natural resources for living under the principles of sufficiency, equality, and justice.

This the project is nominated in Category 2. To solve the problem of Khok Huai Wang Saeng forest, Ban Pa Phrao community by Nong Makhuea SAO Request support from Various organizations to join in solving the problem by appropriate . Besides solving the problem based on the needs of the community, the forest restoration and protection project led by Ban Pa Phrao committee also established guidelines for all relevant organizations to Make a plan follow which not redundant budgeting processes and increase engagement. The plan can also help the organizations succeed in their individual missions.

The project “Living Well by Forest, Living Forest by Good People” aligns with SDG 15: protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Khok Huai Wang Saeng forest management can improve the encroachment prevention system of the community such as patrolling to prevent burning, illegal logging, and wildfire prevention. The project also established a resource management system that helps strengthen the ecosystem stability, such as building a greenhouse, increasing green space, and plant propagation. The project provides an opportunity for the citizens to earn benefits from joining the project and utilizing natural resources for extra income under a set of rules based on the principles of sufficiency, equality, and justice. This opportunity creates a sense of belonging and a recognition of the value of the resources that are the key to sustainable forest management.

Social sustainability: Integrating citizen engagement with all relevant organizations and establishing forest utilization rules reduces conflict in the community and builds a strong operational structure. Economic sustainability: Providing benefits in term of wages and resource utilization opportunities increases the household economic sustainability by reducing expenses, increasing income, and provide long-term benefits for the household. Environmental sustainability: People in the community value the richness of natural resources, which is the result of a good protection and restoration plan. The community must adhere to the forest management system to maintain the stability of the ecosystem.

A fully restored forest will help increase the quality of life for the people in the community as they can access natural resources and utilize it for food and medicine, reducing expenses for the household. In addition, the project brings peace and reduces conflict within the community by changing the intruders into the protectors who help preserve the forest and earn benefits according to the rules set by the community.

The project “Living Well by Forest, Living Forest by Good People” creates an opportunity for people regardless of age, gender, occupation, and areas of living to join hands in preserving the forest and utilizing natural resources equally. They can join the project as community committee and/or subdistrict committee members or as volunteers in particular activities.

The target group of this project is residents of Ban Pa Phrao community who directly or indirectly benefit from the Khok Huai Wang Saeng forest. The project aims to increase engagement and to build teamwork among the groups to avoid any activities that potentially harm the forest. The achievement of the project is that people in the community are able to proceed to the restoration and conservation plan, which helps in reducing conflict in resources management as the forest encroachment problem is solved.

The main problem of Khok Huai Wang Saeng forest is forest encroachment. The project aims to change the forest intruders into forest protectors . The implementation consists of these 5 steps: 1. Problem investigation. Community Forest Committee and the SAO jointly investigated the cause of the problems and relevant facts, so each party has a better understanding of the problems and acknowledges the impact of forest encroachment. This step consists of two tactics. 1.1 Group discussion (stakeholders) The discussion revealed the problems and the needs of each group. 1.2 Survey: Build awareness of participation of the outsiders 2. Solving plan development. Based on SWOT analysis, Nong Makhuea SAO selected an organizational integration model to gain resources support such as personnel, equipment, and operational management of all people, both the community committee and the intruders, in the community. 3. Engagement promotion. To promote greater engagement and collaboration, the following strategies were adopted. 3.1 Providing an opportunity for the organizations and groups to engage and design activities to help the community solve the problems. 3.2 Establish the project committee and sign an MOU to establish official partnerships 4. Operation. This step consists of four strategies and seven tactics based on internal and external origins. The strategies are as follows: 4.1 SO Strategy: the community has a strong foundation as well as teamwork skills, and receives resources support from relevant organizations. 4.2 ST Strategy: Strengthen the prevention of and counteract forest encroachment. 4.3 WO Strategy: increasing engagement to support the community and the project and providing support where needed to improve the implementation process. 4.4 WT Strategy: handling emergencies to prevent losses and damage. 5. Assessment As every party of the project has its own responsibility based on the development plan, each activity must be assessed by the stakeholders using a satisfaction survey.

Initially, the low engagement of the community was the biggest obstacle as there were only 16 people who joined the community committee. This problem occurred because of the lack of attention and personal limitations such as time and health conditions. After launching publicity campaigns, informing individuals, and showing empirical results to the community, there was an increase in engagement from the community. The key solution is to inform individuals about the benefits to them and to others. Currently, there are 30 people serving on the community forest committee, with all households serving as participants.

The community has low average income and mostly relies on natural resources for living. The project employed an organizational integration procedure to solve the problems. The highlight innovation of this project is change the attitude and behavior of the intruders voluntarily. It consists of turning the forest into new income resources, changing the form of benefits, and creating new sources of income. The forest restoration plan can improve the stability of the ecosystem, resulting in the richness of natural resources, which provide more benefits to the community. This helps the community to realize the importance of environmental conservation and development.

No.

No.

The forest restoration plan of the Ban Pa Phrao community aims to improve the entire system and solve the problems that require engagement from public organizations and people in the community. Together, they design and develop a plan and the activities to solve the forest problems. The plan can prevent forest encroachment, restore the ecosystem, enable forest utilization, encourage forest conservation and fulfill the economical need. For these reasons, the innovations from this project, such as organizational integration procedure, policy establishment procedure, and engagement improvement procedure, can be shared and adapted universally.

The Nong Makhuea SAO plan restores the forest and changes the mindset of people in the community simultaneously, resulting in establishing various activities. These activities require support from partners organizations. • Nong Makhuea SAO: coordinate, provide a budget for meetings, patrolling, tools, birds-eye-view images, GPS devices, wildfire tools, first aid kits, etc. • Community committee: provide information and organize the project. • Forest Management Bureau: provide plant experts and budget for greenhouse. • Leaders from 9 villages: provide publicity campaign. • Schools: educate students and adjust courses. • Local temples: cultivate awareness through local traditions. • Phon police station: provide education on symbolic speech and laws.

The innovation was initiated using an organizational integration procedure which can show an explicit source of resource support needed in each process under the MOU. Providing benefits and extra income to every party involved in the project creates sustainable engagement in environmental conservation and forest restoration.

Yes

The project was evaluated by the Office of Decentralization Committee, the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister Office, and was placed in second place under ‘outstanding’ category in the subdistrict administrative organizations’ management contest. The project received positive feedback as the innovation was said to be creative, appropriate to the situation, and can be used as a model for other areas.

The contest was divided into three rounds. First round was a documentappraisal. Performance assessment with regard to administrative, personnel and council, fiscal and financial aspects. The appraisal result must score higher than 80 percent. It also included the integrity and transparency assessment citizens’ engagement, networking, facilitation, citizens’ satisfaction, and local innovation. Second round, the project was evaluated by scholars from selected educational institutions. Fieldwork, observation, interviews, and questionnaires were employed to collect opinion data from local residents. Final round, the project was evaluated based on its content and achievement by a nationally selected judging committee. Document review, fieldwork, and interviews were employed.

After winning the nationally recognized award, the residents, committee members, and local official have become even more committed to the approach of the project. They see the award as a proof that they are on the right track.

The forest problems have an impact on the community, such as on the economy, the society, and the environment. All the relevant public organizations must establish and serve in a subdistrict natural resources and environmental conservation committee. Nong Makhuea SAO signed MOUs with a number of partner organizations and clearly assigns the responsibility of each organization. Major partner organizations are as follows. • Non Chan Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Bua Lai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province • Ban Nong Waeng Nok School, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province • Nong Makhuea-Song Maew-Khok Mai Ngam Witthaya School, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province • Phon Police Station, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province • Nong Makhuea Subdistrict Hospital, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province • The subdistrict head of Non Kha Subdistrict, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province • The village head of Huai Chot Village, Non Kha Subdistrict, Phon District, Khon Kaen Province • The College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen Province

The stakeholders engage in the project in many ways: • Observation. Joined by Nong Makhuea SAO, the main part of this process is to investigate problems, identify community context and potential, and further design a relevant approach. • Information sharing. Analyzing the data and conducting plans, strategies, and activities with relevant organizations. • Project involvement. The public serves as a co-committee and provide resources support for the community to run activities.

Forest management system development using an organizational integration procedure can build trust and engagement among the stakeholders. The stakeholders join in the project to organize the project, carry out the plan, gain access, and receive benefits. This procedure builds a sense of ownership for the stakeholders and establishes sustainable development among the stakeholders. The strategies behind this procedure are trustbuilding and participative management which help stakeholders to see empirical results from each step of the project. The strategies also reduce redundant work and employs all organizational aspects.