Myanmar officials learn from Thailand's experience on how community forestry (CF) can improve livelihoods of local people
Six participants from Forest Department, Myanmar, including Mr. Tint Swe, Director of Training and Research Development Division of Forest Department attended a study tour program on 'Community Forestry Development and Livelihood in Thailand', organized by RECOFTC-the Center for People and Forests.
During their visit in Kanchanaburi, Thailand from 19 to 21 September 2016, participants learned about the current situation of community forestry and natural resources management in Thailand as well how community forestry can promote local livelihoods development and how local people can apply this knowledge and adopt it to their own context.
In Baan Khao Lek community and Chaloem Rattanakosin National Park in Kanchanaburi Province, participants had an opportunity to interact with various resource persons, including the national park representative, Ms. Prapassson Aosod. She explained about how the initiative of the Joint Management of protected Area (JoMPA) helped in resolving conflict between local communities and national park authority in the past and turned it into a win-win solution to manage forest in the protected areas.
Participants also visited the Baan Huay Sapan Samakkee community forest where they observed a real example on how forest can provide various products that can be reliable sources of income for forest-dependent community. By providing adequate knowledge in product development, market and other necessary infrastructure, the community can gain fair benefits from utilization of forest resources while also playing essential role in preserving them.
This program is made possible through the support of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) Strategic Response Fund mechanism, a strategic funding program of ASFN administered by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture. The funding is provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC).