By Stephen Elliott and David Blakesley
Originally published in Guidelines Magazine (2002)
In a world with a rapidly increasing human population, it seems inevitable, that tropical forests will continue to be destroyed to meet the ever-growing needs of humankind. If so, then we must also accept that a substantial proportion of Earth’s biodiversity will disappear, since tropical forests are habitat to more than half the world’s plant and animal species.
But maybe the outlook need not be so bleak. Working with FORRU-CMU, the Hmong hill-tribe villagers of Ban Mae Sa in the north of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park are showing that tropical deforestation can be reversed. Moreover, they are achieving success in a small valley with a rapidly growing population. Now, the villagers are beginning to reap the rewards of their hard work, as they invite eco-tourists to enjoy their newly restored forests.
With more than 200 households, the village of Mae Sa , is the largest Hmong hill tribe community in northern Thailand. The village’s growing population is bringing enormous pressure to bear on the valley’s natural resources; yet, the community has actually increased forest cover in their watershed since 1996. Native forest is again thriving on degraded land above the village. Where cabbages and carrots once grew, wildlife is now returning.
In the past, the Hmong traditionally cultivated corn for animal feed, upland rice as their staple food and opium poppies for cash income. Although highly controversial, poppy cultivation had low ecological impact. Because opium was so profitable, each family would clear only a tiny patch of forest to meet their needs. However, the social costs of drug addiction meant that poppy cultivation had to be eradicated. In the 1980’s, drug suppression programs promoted alternative (but far less lucrative) cash crops. The villagers had to clear most of the remaining forest to earn sufficient same income, sparing only the tiniest forest remnants on the steepest slopes. In the dry season, wildfires scorched the earth, whilst during the monsoon; torrential rains stripped cultivated slopes of topsoil and clogged streams with silt. Consequently, the community’s water supply dried up, so the villagers had to shift their settlement down the valley, where three streams still flowed from a surviving forest fragment. They began to realise that conserving this tiny watershed forest was vital for their survival. Another significant development came in 1981, when the valley was declared part of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. To avoid eviction from the park, the villagers would have to prove to the authorities that they could take care of the environment.
FORRU was founded in 1994, to develop appropriate techniques to restore natural forest ecosystems to degraded sites, for wildlife conservation and watershed protection. Initially, the unit carried out basic ecological studies of many of Doi Suthep’s more than 680 indigenous tree species. Seasonal flowering and fruiting cycles of nearly 100 species were recorded and germination tests were carried out on more than 400 species. Working with Britain’s Horticulture Research International (HRI), experiments were carried out to develop efficient methods to grow indigenous forest tree species from seed to a suitable size for planting.
FORRU started to develop the “framework species” method of forest restoration. Framework tree species are those that accelerate natural forest regeneration, when planted out on degraded sites. They must survive and grow rapidly under harsh conditions and must rapidly shade out weeds. The planted trees restore forest structure and function, but they also accelerate biodiversity recovery, by producing, at an early age, foods, nesting sites or other resources, which attract seed-dispersing wildlife. Plants that grow from the seeds, which are dispersed into the planted areas by wildlife, gradually restore the original forest flora.
The next step was to find field sites where potential framework tree species could be tested. Therefore, when the park authority asked FORRU to help the Mae Sa Mai villagers reforest their upper watershed, the opportunity arose to combine the needs of science with those of a local community. The villagers also asked FORRU to help them establish their own tree nursery, so FORRU sponsored construction of a village tree nursery and helped to train some of the villagers to run it. This community nursery enabled FORRU’s researchers to determine if villagers, with no scientific background, would accept propagation techniques that had been developed in the research facility. Feedback from the villagers provided plenty of ideas for further research.
By 1996, the project was ready to start field trials of the framework species method in earnest. Each year, with the support of Thailand’s Biodiversity Research and Training Program and Britain’s Eden Project, plots were planted to test various mixtures of 30 candidate framework tree species. The plots included experiments to test how the planted trees respond to different weed-control, fertiliser-application and mulching treatments. Since the experimental plots were fairly small, the villagers also planted larger areas as a community activity.
By the end of the second rainy season after planting, the trees grow tall and canopy closure begins to occur. The villagers assess the success of their hard work by joining with FORRU staff to measure the planted trees. They also record the return of the forest flora and carry out monthly surveys to record which trees have started to attract animals into the plots with flowers or fruits.
The results speak for themselves. By 2-3 years after tree planting, hot, dry degraded areas, dominated by weeds, are transformed into cool, shady forest with a thick carpet of leaf litter. Some of the tree species planted grow up to 7 m tall, just 18 months after planting and wildlife such as hog-badgers, wild pigs, deer and a host of forest birds return.
Now the villagers are developing their own eco-tourism program. With assistance from The Royal Project, an eco-tourist centre is being built and programs developed to enable visitors to experience both the natural and cultural attractions of the Mae Sa Valley. Visitors will stay in a small lodge, currently under construction in the village, and enjoy a wide range of activities, including forest walks, bird watching and star gazing in a sheltered camp site amidst the planted trees.
© Stephen Elliott & David Blakesley: text and images, 2002.
