Future Perfect

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ustainable

agriculture

wildlife

food

security

consumption

and

production

patterns

The mangrove forest is our legacy, to be treasured by future

generations.”With this attitude, the villagers set up the first

Community Forestry Group with some assistance from the

Royal Thai Forest Department.

RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

became involved in Prednai at the end of logging conces-

sions. It found immediate resonance with villagers on the

core principle of advocating participatory management

of natural resources. Empowering the community to be

stewards of their own land is the first tenet of success-

ful community forestry. Set up in 1998, the Prednai

Mangrove Forest Conservation and Development Group

divided the forest into six zones. RECOFTC provided the

training, specialized knowledge and resources needed to

carry out intensive mapping of forest inventory. Over the

past 15 years, training programmes and research work

have reached hundreds of stakeholders at all levels, from

grassroots to government, and remained a continuous

feature of RECOFTC’s involvement in Prednai. These

days, training is about climate change adaptation and

carbon sequestration, while in the early days it was about

conflict management and livelihoods.

By 2000, a forest management planwas created, prescrib-

ing how each area of the forest should be used to promote

sustainability and rebuild incomes. The mangrove restora-

tion and zoning plan came out of collaborative fieldwork

and long discussions with the community. “It was difficult

to see the mangroves we grew up in being destroyed and

to lose the common land that previous generations had

used,” recalls Nopparat Siraroy, who was a 17-year-old

student when she bravely joined the protests. She is now

affect at least three quarters of Asian forests, the majority of these

escalating into violence year after year, with little resolution in sight.

Luckily, the grit and guile of Prednai villagers eventually helped bring

their case to the attention of higher authorities, resulting in a dramatic

helicopter visit by a senior official and the end of the concession. The

Government was also under increasing pressure to curtail logging

which was blamed for the massive landslide in 1988, which resulted in

the deaths of over 200 villagers. Devastated but not disheartened, the

community of Prednai began the painful journey of rebuilding their

lives. Using traditional knowledge and age-old principles of sustain-

ability and universal participation, they began replanting the mangroves

and regenerating marine life in the 12 major and six minor waterways

intersecting Prednai, rejuvenating the land and its flora and fauna.

Today, about 1,920 hectares of mangrove have been restored; the reefs

are teeming with crabs, shrimp, molluscs and fish, while the orchards

are laden with lush tropical fruit that proves irresistible to returning

monkeys and birds. A locally preserved whale skeleton in the commu-

nity centre is a formidable attraction for visiting city dwellers. In 2009,

more than 1,000 visitors brought ecotourism income into the commu-

nity. Prednai is now a celebrated case study, its inhabitants featuring in

prize-winning films and international forums, while study tours are an

annual event. Awards such as the Green Globe in 1999 and recognition

as a finalist for the United Nations Development Programme Equator

Prize in 2004 have celebrated its success. But how did they do it?

Universal participation is a basic conservation principle

“We worked to unite the community in dealing with officials,” says

Manot, who took over this crucial role fromhis father some years ago. He

remembers the years after the concession when villagers put their tradi-

tional knowledge to work regenerating the land. “I always tell people we

can disagree and have different attitudes, but we must remain together.

Sharing tropical orchard fruit with Norwegian ambassador Katya Nordegaard

Students benefit from strong school and community partnerships at

the Mangrove Learning Center

Image: Phinyada Atchatavivan