Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fire management
Local cooperation
Reforestation
Ban Phui
Mae Ya Noi
Ban Ho
B. Pang Hin Fon
Ban Yang San
Separation of
forest areas
Rules and control
Restrictions in
farming
Education
Government
(/NGO) actions
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
% of interviewees
Fig. 19.2
Villagers' perceptions on the means of forest and natural resource conservation by
percentage of responses per village in the Mae Chaem and Chomthong districts, Chiang Mai
province (Modified from Hares 2006)
Some interviewees acknowledged the necessity of working together with authori-
ties, especially in controlling the activities of outsiders entering the village territory
and for financial support. In the Karen and Lawa villages, people generally seemed
to be content with existing levels of local cooperation, while in the Hmong villages
a need for improved cooperation was sometimes expressed. The villagers regarded
themselves as competent to manage and conserve the forest without outside help.
Some interviewees viewed the involvement of the government as unwelcome, for
example in reforestation, because they preferred natural regeneration as a means to
restore and rehabilitate the forest.
Division of village land use in resource and conservation forests and agricultural
land was considered an efficient way to prevent logging in conservation areas,
since people could obtain the wood they need for household purposes from the
community forest. In addition, the division was viewed as a tool to control the
expansion of agricultural land. On the other hand, opposing views on the need and
ability to restrict farming areas referred to population growth, inheritance of land,
and landlessness. However, the relevance of rules for forest protection in general
was commonly acknowledged, in particular the rules set by the villagers them-
selves. Each village had a rule that regulated village life, including the use of natural
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