Thailand
"Bangkama"
World Heritage Forest Life and Sustainability Adaptation
World Heritage Forest Life and Sustainability Adaptation
The sign “4x4 Car at the turning point” is seen on the roadside to explain the driving difficulty of the road to Bangkama. This steep and bumpy road is the only way to the village. All the villagers have to take this road to run their own errands such as crops transportation, going to school and even going to the hospital. This kind of road may seem challenging for adventurous tourists, but those who have to take this road everyday may not seem to be happy.
Bangkama is located at Chaloem Phra Kiat Thai Prachan National Park. It is also one of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex and its place and the road to the village have just been announced as the world heritage. Although Bangkama villagers have clearly allocated their farms, the road to the village is not reserved for public use. As a result, this road has closed its door to be developed because no agency is allowed to develop it because of the forest conservation law.
Bangkama community is another one located at Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex before the forest conservation law was announced and was registered as the word heritage. It is a long-established residence of the Karen ethnic group scattered throughout the western forests of Thailand.
The Life of Bangkama people changed from the shifting cultivation in the ancestor generation to the permanent agriculture, monoculture and mixed agriculture and there are also the capitalists and landowners from outside the community.
“Water is the source of food security, the guarantee of plants survival and our quality of lives. Now I am connecting the pipes to various points, and it takes time to cover all the places” said Nisan Palipan.
The capillary water points around the area are the reservoir for the community to be used for household consumption. The blue pipelines are connected along the way to build the village water supply network, relying on water pressure sent along the lines to transfer water to the permanent agricultural plots. The rice fields are prepared to plant avocado, durian, and jackfruit, which are the new industrial drops helping them create a sustainable economy. Big corn and pineapple fields, which caused air pollution are replaced by ginger, galangal, papaya, and banana to be the food bank for the community. Some leftovers from the sale, such as ripe banana and banana stalks, are mixed with broken-milled rice to make food for pigs and laying hens. Some of the eggs can also be sold as additional income.
However, from the problem of the road’s condition and how it is not reserved for public use from being announced as a world heritage, no agency can develop it. As a result, both the agricultural products' transportation and travelling were difficult, and it also affected children and youth's education and health care system accessibility. The villagers solved the problem by forming sub-groups to collect enough agricultural products in sufficient quantity for the break-even point and sell them outside the community and buy products from Banka district back to the community.
On the other hand, the troublesome road to the village also created an opportunity for the community as the tourist spot for adventurous tourists and community education and environment tourism. The villagers created “Laan-Stay” (rental space for camping and tents), which is popular nowadays. “We used to do the ‘homestay’ ones, but they were not successful. Some tourists preferred some privacy, and they didn't want to stay in the villagers’ houses. Laan-stay became the new idea for community tourism. We only had to prepare them some facilities such as lights and the most important one, toilets”. San explained how to create Laan-Stay to make revenue for the community.
When there were more tourists, especially during winter, the water supply in the community ran lower, causing water insufficiency and affecting water usage in the community, water supply for agriculture and for the business of community-based tourism. It is a problem that must be worked out together in the future.
Water supply management that still lacked equipment affected the agriculture and the business of community-based tourism sectors, which the villagers had started. In spite of impressive revenue, it costed more use of resources according to more people coming to the village as well.
The water supply problem played a big part in crop production, including difficult roads, which is also an obstacle in transportation.
The agricultural sector supported more mixed crops, especially avocado, which the story about it is interesting. Avocados have been brought to the village for more than 10 years since the villagers bought them from the city and offered them to the monks at Bangkama abbey. After the monks had eaten them, they planted the seed, and they grew well until they were fruitful and the fruits fell to the ground. At first, the villagers didn’t eat it because of its unfamiliar taste. However, many people planted them at home, and they grew well until they gave shade because they grew fast. Later, avocados were priced in the market. Therefore, the villagers collected them and sold them in the market for more income. Thanks to the good soil and good weather at Bangkama, avocados grew fruitful and flavorful. A villager could make a yearly revenue from selling them around 40,000-50,000 baht. Apart from avocados, the villagers also planted durians, jackfruits, pomelos, and the monoculture crops like pineapples.
The first avocado tree grew in Bangkama abbey.
After the rotational farming was stopped, the villagers switched to growing crops for sale instead and it caused rice fields to disappear from the community. Villagers had to buy rice outside the community instead and it caused food security as rice is the main food for food security and over the past decade, villagers have become increasingly aware of food security. Therefore, they started the rice field restoration for building up the community’s food security. However, planting rice in the same field over and over caused decreased products. Moreover, the knowledge of the rotational farming for the new generation is also less.
ข้าวเป็นอาหารหลักที่แสดงถึงความมั่นคงทางอาหาร
สังคมผู้สูงวัยในชุมชนบางกะม่า บางคนก็ทำของเล็กๆน้อยๆขายในชุมชน เช่น ยายคนนี้ทำไม้กวาดขาย
ข้าวเป็นอาหารหลักที่แสดงถึงความมั่นคงทางอาหาร
Herbs that the villagers keep for medicinal purposes.
Community-based forest management through religious beliefs was one of the solutions that helped protect forests by forming a buffer between farmland and conservation forests. The community also benefited from various seeds and different types of saplings. Bangkama abbey was also a nursery for wildlife such as a variety of birds, including hornbills, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. Thanks to the various types of trees, it has created a rich ecosystem.
Some seniors at Bangkama community were still planting some small farms and passing on wisdom about livelihood, agriculture, and the use of resources in traditional ways. After there were more tourists in the community, The elderly in the community often had activities with tourists in giving knowledge about herbs, agriculture, and cultural traditions.
Assistance/Dependency/Cooperation with government officials
“Officials’ serious faces may be defined by the laws and regulations that they have to follow. However, compromise and conservatism alleviated the tension. They know who we are because of our familiar faces, so they won’t be mad at us.”
The coexistence of people with forests is always a problem, also found at Bangkama. There are always conflicts between villagers and forest officials. However, many things have the same common point.
“We have to connect water pipelines with the forest protection unit’s. We have to help each other to live together.” said Nisan Palipan about the participation in resource management with government officials.
Nowadays, many plots of land have been allocated in the form of Agricultural Land Reform Office. Some villagers still think about planting more trees on their own land for personal use in addition to farming. They think if we would like to expand more forest area, they should be allowed to plant their own trees to decrease wood usage from the forest.
The villagers have always been ready for fire management. Nobody wants the fire to expand outside their own area and nobody also doesn’t want the fire to spread inside their farms. The fire management, therefore, becomes a part of the villagers’ way of life.
The direction of the quality-of-life improvement and the service ecosystem restoration, which need to be done at the same time at Bangkama is still needed for a serious discussion. The proper resource allocation, especially water and land, is a matter that villagers and various agencies have to work in various fields. Although the improvement in various things is still uncleared, the current ideas and cooperation are the hope for improving the quality of life at Bangkama and for the good service ecosystem at Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex, where there is high ecological diversity and also helps improve the quality of life of people living in the forest.