 |
| |
Since 1997, following an initiative from His Majesty King Bhumibol of Thailand, the LPF has been collaborating with the Royal Forest Department of Thailand (and now the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department - DNP) to help protect the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary (PKWS). The PKWS, at 1560 sqkm, is one of the most important protected areas in north-eastern Thailand, and the third largest wildlife sanctuary in the country as a whole.
The reserve has six distinct natural habitat types, which results in a high diversity of flora and fauna. Here occur at least three species of parrots: the Moustached Parakeet Psittacula alexandri, Finsch's Slaty-headed Parakeet Psittacula finschii, and the Vernal Hanging Parrot Loriculus vernalis. The sanctuary furthermore harbours more dramatic animals such as Tiger Panthera tigris, Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, and the Sumatran Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatranus.
The potential for environmentally detrimental activities persists in the form of illegal hunting of animals and removal of timber. There are 84 villages near the boundary of the sanctuary, and therefore a need to avoid exploitative pressure by developing sustainable use of community forests in the buffer zone around the reserve. The LPF-DNP collaborative programme has developed and is impelmenting these community activities and educational programmes, as well as gathering information within the sanctuary so as to improve its management. Early subprojects provided biological inventories both inside the reserve and in the surrounding community forests, and up-dated the spatial occurrence of the community forests around the sanctuary. Recent efforts have increasingly focused on the strengthening of the environmental education and community awareness programmes in the wider area around PWKS. To this end, the LPF financed the participation of one DNP staff member in a one-year course in Conservation Education, newly given by RARE Center for Tropical Conservation at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent (UK). The implementation phase of the course in Thailand -which formed part of the course work- was very productive. Building on this outcome the environmental education work around PKWS is currently much further promoted through the Huai Kum Wildlife Conservation Development and extension Center. The range of materials used for this programme has been greatly expanded. During March 2005, a training course financed by the LPF and directed by the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation takes place at Phu Khieo. This course in “Social Marketing and Conservation Education” has 20 participants from all over Thailand. Another LPF initiative expected in 2005 is to finance the acquisition and equipping of a Mobile Educational Unit vehicle. In 2001, the LPF's commitment to this project was honoured by a national conservation award which it received through the then Royal Forest Department.
Financial support: US$234,210