and the Forest Restoration Research Unit, Thailand

and the Forest Restoration Research Unit,
Thailand
Doi Suthep-Pui National Park in north-west Thailand attracts over three million people
annually. It is of national cultural importance due to the presence of a revered Buddhist
temple (Wat Prathat) and the royal family’s winter residence, Phuping Palace, at
its heart. On the doorstep of the city of Chiang Mai, its mountainous terrain covers
261km2 and rises to over 1,600m. The park receives over 2,000mm of rain annually with
a five-month dry season. Internationally renowned as a biodiversity hot-spot, the park
possesses over 600 tree species and 326 bird species.
BURMA
LAOS
Chiang Mai
VIETNAM
THAILAND
Bangkok
CAMBODIA
Ban Mae Sa Mai
In recent decades the forest has been degraded by slash-and-burn agriculture and rapidly
expanding tourism. For instance, the people of the Hmong village of Ban Mae Sa Mai, located
within the national park, cleared forest initially to grow opium, then vegetables. This deforestation
led to reduced surface water supplies and increased erosion and landslides.
The framework species method of forest restoration
FORRU have successfully adapted the framework species method of forest restoration,
developed in Australia, to northern Thailand’s forests. The method accelerates natural
forest regeneration in deforested areas to increase biodiversity and protect watersheds. It
relies on planting a minimum number (ie, 20-30) of indigenous tree species for maximum
ecological benefit. Species are selected for their potential to accelerate biodiversity
recovery and enhance natural regeneration, leading to the rapid creation of a self-sustaining
forest ecosystem from a single planting event. The ecological characteristics of preferred
framework tree species include:
• High survival rate when planted out in deforested sites;
• Rapid growth;
• Dense, spreading crowns to shade out (competitor) herbaceous weeds; and
• Flowering, fruiting, or provision of other resources at a young age, to attract seed dispersing wildlife.
Degraded forest landscape
Monitoring trees
The Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU) began in 1994
as a scientific collaboration between scientists at Chiang Mai
University and the national park. Researchers studied over
600 of the park’s tree species developing from first principles
techniques to better understand their ecological, horticultural
and establishment requirements
Forest restoration would be difficult without the participation
of local communities. The first village to become involved
was Ban Mae Sa Mai. FORRU staff worked with the village to
create a community tree nursery and offered villagers training
in tree propagation and field establishment techniques. The
village have also set-up an environmental group to encourage
more responsible forest practices, including the monitoring and
controlling of forest fires. Together with FORRU and the national
park, the villagers planted over 65,000 trees between 1998 and
2006. Recently a bird and environmental youth group has been
established. The villagers are motivated by the benefits they see
accruing from the new forests - less soil erosion and more reliable
water supplies - and their wish to portray responsible behaviour
to, and build better relations with, the national park authorities.
Early morning bird watching
The Eden Project has played an important role in the development
of FORRU since 2002, supporting three major projects:
Research for Restoring Northern Thailand’s Tropical
Forests: a three-year research project to test the efficacy of
the framework species method in restoring degraded forest
land. The project employed two field researchers, two assistants
and casual labour and enabled the production of native tree
seedlings at FORRU’s research nursery and the community tree
nursery in Ban Mae Sa Mai.
Trees for Thailand: a three-year project to develop greater
understanding of the social aspects of working with local
community groups in scaling up forest restoration from
experimental plots to landscape-scale. Three Eden Extension
Officers and a secretary expanded the project into new
communities involving: 101 on-site capacity-building events
for villagers; the establishment of 12 community tree nurseries
across northern Thailand; the planting of 12,500 trees of 50
species; and three networking workshops for all participating
communities.
Eden Bridging Year Project: this maintained FORRU’s
education team, which continued to provide free capacity
building services to local communities. The team also provided
workshops and training for other stakeholders including the
private sector. Recently, demand for such services has increased
markedly in response to wider acceptance of forest valuation
mechanisms such as carbon credits and other payments for
environmental services.
The research nursery
Mutual benefits that have emerged during the course of the relationship are based on public
education and staff development, including:
Public education: FORRU is permanently promoted around the Eden site, including in a tropical
forest restoration exhibit in Eden’s Rainforest Biome. In 2005 FORRU featured heavily in a BBC2
documentary about the Eden Project. The project has also been widely promoted to the Eden
Friends membership with talks, articles in their magazine and a field visit arranged for late 2010.
Staff development: staff exchanges have enabled several Eden staff members to gain direct
experience of FORRU’s work first hand. FORRU staff have also benefited from horticultural training
at Eden and have contributed to on-site public events, including the high profile, international
“Rainforest Gathering” conference in 2005.
Tree planting
Strangler Fig
Having started as a small, technically-focused academic project in just one area of Thailand,
FORRU has expanded its successful model of quality research, community engagement and
capacity building from a single village in north-west Thailand, to a variety of projects across
Thailand and into other south-east Asian countries. Its network now involves academics, villages,
government officials, NGOs and the private sector and it has developed project partners in seven
countries, funded by a variety of organisations. High quality forest restoration literature has been
produced in seven languages and it is currently working with international partners to produce a
global guide to tropical forest restoration.
Further information: www.forru.org
Date:
Text:
Images:
Design: May 2010
PH Whitbread-Abrutat, Eden Project, UK and S Elliott, FORRU, Thailand
PH Whitbread-Abrutat and FORRU
D Watt, Eden Project, UK
New Landscapes, New Lives is a landscape restoration initiative of
the Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, PL24 2SG, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1726 811 911
www.newlandscapesnewlives.org
Eden Project is a registered charity, number 1093070