Questions/Answers

The initiative has been implemented through the collaboration of Sakaerat Environmental Research Station (SERS), government agencies, and local communities. SERS is administered by Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI). It is certified by UNESCO through Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme and officially announced as Thailand’s first Biosphere Reserve. SERS covers 48,800 rai in Wang Nam Khiao District and Pak Thong Chai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The major issue of this initiative is forest encroachment, which is caused by people’s lack of knowledge and understanding of how to live with the environment and ecosystem harmoniously. Some of them invaded the forest areas for farming. The low-income earning for living is also a significant force inducing deforestation. Another challenge is a long growing and yielding period of economic trees. Therefore, the introduction of integrated economic tree plantation with ectomycorrhizal fungi is a possible solution as it can accelerate the growth of the trees and produce edible mushroom by-products in farmers’ agricultural areas. The objectives of the initiative are 1) to disseminate knowledge on the integrated economic tree plantation with ectomycorrhizal fungi; 2) to create a learning site model for the integrated economic tree plantation; 3) to build up the community as a center for area-based development by enabling villagers to participate in occupational activities, share needs and opinions, engage in decision making with government agencies; and 4) to apply different expertise of each organization for work integration and accomplishment of common goals to resolve issues effectively. The initiative helps create sustainable jobs, generate sufficient income for communities, lower the cost of living, enhance better quality of life, change the attitude of people towards forest conservation, reduce migration, minimize the cost of medical care and government expenses.

The initiative is relevant to Category 2: Enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions to reach the SDGs. The knowledge dissemination on ecology and conservation together with the application of science and technology on integrated economic tree plantation, distribution of seedlings, weaver ant rearing aims to generate income and improve quality of life. The collaboration among research institutes, forest conservation organizations, community leaders, and villagers allows the common understanding of real problems and needs, encourages participative, effective decision making to reach consensus. These are the key factors to ultimately foster forest restoration and sustainable living with the forests.

The initiative supports SDG No.2: Zero Hunger and No.8 Decent Work and Economic Growth as it helps create jobs and income, stimulate community economy, and promotes sustainable agroforestry and food security through the knowledge dissemination on the cultivation of edible crops and integrated economic tree plantation with ectomycorrhizal fungi, distribution of seedlings, training on weaver ants rearing and processing of fruit juice and salad dressing from wild fruits (2.1, 2.3, 8.3). Moreover, the initiative supports SDG No.15: Life on Land through the collaboration among relevant public organizations and local communities to conserve natural resources, forests, ecosystems, and cultural diversity (15.2).

The initiative plays an important role in natural resource conservation and forest restoration. It has received funding from the Biodiversity-Based Economy Development Office (Public Organization) and the National Research Council of Thailand. It emphasizes the support of the community to be a learning center for area-based development through the understanding of villagers’ problems and needs for the betterment of living. SERS and local authorities provide close support and guidance on ecology and forest, occupational training to create jobs and income, encourage the community to be a role model in driving the concept of the sustainable coexistence of people and forests.

The initiative instills thought on the interdependence between people and forests. Once people stop cutting down trees and grow them instead, they would definitely gain environmental, economic, and social benefits in return. Hence, the initiative helps change the attitude of villagers towards forests. The communities realize the importance of forest conservation. They can be part to help SERS and other local forest conservation organizations to continuously nurture the abundance of natural resources and protect the forests from invasion. In addition, the forest zoning management of SERS is essential for defining appropriate activities. The zonation can be distinctly divided into 1) Core Area, 2) Buffer Zone, and 3) Transition Zone. The transition zone is allocated for human living areas to develop a socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable economy. It is arable land, permitting villagers to carry out agricultural activities and settlement. The communities can utilize the resources for their livelihood, such as collecting edible wild mushrooms. The zonation is obviously beneficial to the tremendous forest area management and enables the communities residing around the forest to have the lands for farming, which creates stability in income and sustainable livelihood in the long run and avoids conflicts between communities and public organizations.

The initiative is welcome to people of all ages and genders, who live nearby SERS to openly express their problems, needs, and opinions for a sustainable coexistence with forests. All villagers have equal opportunity to participate in occupational activities in order to create jobs and income. The essential groups, such as agricultural cooperatives, agricultural banking group, and community development fund are set up to financially support the communities. Moreover, the initiative educates women group on the food and drink processing of juice and salad dressing, which represents their potential as one of the drivers for the betterment of communities.

The target group of the initiative is the local people who live around SERS in 11 Sub-districts, 2 Districts in Nakhon Ratchasima Province. Most of them are farmers. The initiative creates opportunities for the target group by disseminating knowledge on the environment, ecological system, agroforestry, nature conservation together with the application of science and technology, ultimately aiming to create sustainable jobs, sufficient income, and well-being for the communities. SERS and relevant government agencies act as the mentors to closely provide support and guidance to the communities, such as the cultivation of edible crops and distribution of 30,000 seedlings per year, the introduction of integrated economic tree plantation with ectomycorrhizal fungi and distribution of 6,000 seedlings, training on the weaver ant rearing, eco-friendly agroforestry system, reforestation, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and climate change. The initiative has shown a concrete economic impact on the average amount of income generation of no less than 520,000 baht per community. Additionally, it influences positive results on the creation of sustainable jobs, enhancement of quality of life, change on the attitude of people towards forests, as well as the reduction in migration and city overcrowding.

During the year 2019, TISTR was concerned about the severity of the deforestation and inevitability of climate change, which is currently an environmental crisis. Hence, the campaign urging forest and natural resource conservation has become the primary international agenda. In 2020, TISTR observed the forest areas and found out the reason people deforest is for making their living. With the limitation of budget insufficiency, TISTR, therefore, presented a project proposal and received funding from the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) to conduct research and development for community development and further adopt the results in similar contexts. In 2020-2021, TISTR has disseminated knowledge and transferred appropriate technology to the communities, helping alleviate deforestation. The project implementation during the year 2019-2021 are listed as follows: 1. Creating a database, compiling the characteristics of economic trees, sources of seeds, and distribution of seedlings with ectomycorrhizal fungi 2. Disseminating knowledge on economic trees, producing high-quality seedlings, inoculating ectomycorrhizal fungi in Dipterocarpus alatus Roxb. trees, distributing seedlings to farmers, and nurturing the integrated economic tree plantation with mycorrhizal fungi to yield edible mushroom by-products in the agricultural areas 3. Building up a learning site for the integrated economic tree plantation comprising of 100 trees/rai including Shorea roxburghii G.Don., Dipterocarpus alatus Roxb., Hopea odorata Roxb., and Shorea siamensis Miq. with ectomycorrhizal fungi, aiming to foster reforestation, increase the forest areas, and promote sustainable forest area management 4. Establishing a center for knowledge dissemination on high-quality seedling production and ectomycorrhizal separation in the community and providing advice on plantation techniques for local farmers 5. Regularly monitoring and evaluating project implementation and performance, exerting the expertise of SERS, relevant government agencies, and communities in order to effectively tackle the issues and perform smooth collaboration

Understanding the livelihood contexts of local people is one of the obstacles. We overcome this by having our staff who can communicate in the local language to shape the attitude of villagers towards the conservation of natural resources, wildlife, and biodiversity. Another challenge is forest encroachment. The collaboration on the forest surveillance from relevant forest protection organizations, such as Northeastern Forest Research and Development Center, Wang Nam Khiao Forest Fire Control Station, forest rangers, and many more is needed together with the installation of Network-Centric Anti Poaching System (NCAPS) around SERS to track the illegal trespass, logging, and hunting.

The initiative utilizes the technology of surveillance system for illegal forestry called Network-Centric Anti Poaching System (NCAPS). The Air Geo-Informatic Technology is the combination of knowledge on environment, ecology, biodiversity, and conservation with scientific result application for the zoning management in the biosphere reserve where people live in the transition zone can carry out agricultural activities and settlement, maximize the land use for area-based development, and prevent forest encroachment. Governance Innovation is also applied in this initiative, which focuses on having a network of different expertise to get involved in work integration and effectively solve the specific problems.

The initiative drew inspiration from the Royal Projects on Sufficiency Economy and sustainable coexistence of people and forests in the highland, which were successfully initiated by H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The key concept of the initiative emphasizes the utilization of integrated knowledge on environment, ecology, biodiversity, and nature conservation together with the efficient use of natural bio-based resources and the application of appropriate science and technology to create sustainable jobs and income for community development, as well as improve the quality of life.

The technology is mainly applied in term of Geoinformatics in which Geographic Information System (GIS) and Google Earth Pro Program is used for the capture of aerial photographs, route finding, city plans, and transportation maps. The World Geodetic System 1984 determines the position on the Earth's surface, accurately measures the distance of the places, and has high reliability to create map database and zonation for the purpose of data sharing and work integration with relevant government agencies and communities. For forest protection, the Network-Centric Anti Poaching System (NCAPS) is installed around SERS to track illegal trespass, logging, and hunting.

The initiative has been transferred to several provinces in Thailand, such as Chiang Rai, Lam Phun, Phrae, Sisaket, and Song Khla. One of the distinctive examples is the cultivation of edible vegetable fern (Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw.) in Boon Jam Community, Rong Kwang District, Phrae Province by conducting research and development to obtain a good species that has a good taste and colour, provides high yield, drought resistance, no pest interference, and meets the market requirements. The vegetable fern cultivation can generate income of approximately 1,000-10,000 baht a month per household, which helps strengthen the community economy, and change the attitude of people towards forest conservation. Apart from that, the initiative gives the communities access to knowledge on environment, ecology, biodiversity, and nature conservation by enabling people to participate in local resource conservation activities, making them feel attached to the forest, and realizing that forest is an invaluable natural asset. This is the precise concept of sustainable coexistence of people and forests.

-

In terms of financial support, the initiative has received funding from the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). Moreover, Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) has allocated a budget of 3.4 million baht from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) to support the execution of the project. In terms of human resources, the number of specialists and officers at SERS and relevant government agencies engaging in the project is totally of 50 people.

There is an establishment of essential groups, such as agricultural cooperatives, agricultural banking group, and community development fund, which closely provide financial support and advice, as well as continuously organize the activities to promote job creation and income generation, which can stimulate the community economy. In term of policy, deforestation and climate change have become serious environmental concerns in our global. According to the operation of SERS, it is the implementation following the Cabinet Resolution, having a clear, realistic mission to conduct multi-disciplinary research on the environment and forest ecosystems. The Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve has received permission from the Royal Forest Department to maximize the use of lands for the purpose of living, education, and academic research. Thus, the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve can be a powerful learning center in the areas of ecology, agroforestry, reforestation, biodiversity, and nature conservation for the communities.

Yes

The initiative was evaluated externally by the Center for Economics and Business Forecasting, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce by conducting surveys and in-depth interviews with people who have applied the knowledge to benefit communities and societies. The collected information is used to assess the economic and social impact through the Before-After Comparison of Base Line Data. The results revealed that the ability to encourage communities to apply research and development, resulting in the economic and social impact of 10.1280 million baht per community per year, increase in employment, the better quality of life, reduce immigration, and minimize government expenditures.

Outputs and Indicators: • 100 people have obtained the knowledge dissemination and ready-to-use technology transfer that generate income for the communities • 5,000 youth and people participated in nature conservation activities • Knowledge and information on ecology, biodiversity, agroforestry, and related fields in the forms of academic articles and journals Assessment Tools: • Gantt chart for the comparison of planning and quarterly results and performance • Economic and social impact assessment

The main findings of the evaluation are the impact of the Project on Knowledge Dissemination for the Sustainable Coexistence of People and Forests in the Biosphere Reserves are as follows; 1. The surrounding communities are economically strengthened by performing the integrated economic tree plantation with ectomycorrhizal fungi to obtain edible mushroom by-products, growing edible crops for household consumption and selling, and rearing weaver ants, which help generate sufficient income and reduce the use of natural resources. 2. Local communities are willing to engage in nature conservation activities. They would feel attached to the forest, promote the concept of sustainable coexistence of people and forests in biosphere reserves, and be a role model for other communities. 3. Other organizations can adopt the project implementation into similar contexts for the benefits of the management of learning sites and sustainable use of biodiversity and local resources.

The initiative includes both forest conservation organizations and research institutes. The forest conservation organizations are Northeastern Forest Research and Development Center, Community Forest Protection and Development Unit, Nakhon Ratchasima, Special Operation Task Force (PAYAK PRAI) Royal Forest Department, Protected Area Regional Office 7 (Nakhon Ratchasima), Wang Nam Khiao Forest Fire Control Station, and forest rangers, which are responsible for safeguarding and inspecting the forest areas to prevent illegal trespass, logging, and animal hunting. The motivation of the forest conservation organizations is to help protect and conserve the forest. Apart from that, the involvement from the research institutes like TISTR and Ant Museum, Faculty of Agroforestry, Kasetsart University, play an important role in organizing training on weaver ant rearing in order to create jobs and income for the communities. In addition, the Northeastern Forest Research and Development Center allocates the forest areas where villagers are permitted to enter and collect edible mushrooms. The Center also distributes piglets free of charge to people who are interested in raising them. The motivation of the research institute is to grab the opportunity to disseminate knowledge and transfer ready-to-use technology to the communities.

The stakeholders who engaged in the initiative are the relevant government agencies called the Working Group of Thailand Biosphere Reserve Strategic Management Framework. The main responsibilities of the working group are pushing forward the work integration and building a network of cooperation, promoting the concept of sustainable coexistence of people and forests in the biosphere reserves, supporting each organization to accomplish roles, accountability, and missions, as well as encouraging unity and willingness to collaborate without any limitations. Another important stakeholder is villagers and farmers, who have openly expressed the real problems, needs, and opinions for the betterment of their communities, conservation of natural resources, and sustainable coexistence of people and forests in the biosphere reserve.

The key lessons learned from the initiative are as follows: • Understanding the contexts and making the community as a center for area-based development is important to gain active involvement from villagers and farmers by encouraging them to express their problems, needs, opinions, engaging in decision making, participating in occupational activities, and having relevant government agencies to closely provide support and advice to the communities. • The application of information technology to manage accurate, up-to-date, and reliable information is necessary as it can further share among the stakeholders and assist in effective decision making. For instance, the application of the Air Geo-Informatic Technology for zoning management, where people live in the transition zone can carry out agricultural activities and settlement, efficiently maximize the allocated land use for the livelihood, and prevent forest encroachment. • Bringing scientific knowledge and technology on the integrated economic tree plantation, edible crop cultivation, and weaver ant rearing to the community helps create jobs and income, enhance well-being, and allow the learning of living in harmony with forests. • TISTR plans to transfer the concept of the sustainable coexistence of people and forests throughout the country. The project is currently executing in other provinces – Chiang Rai, Lamphun, Sisaket, and Songkhla.