Co-management Community Forest: in Kanchanaburi Province

Abstract

This research aims to 1) study the co-management of “Ban Huai Saphan Samakkhi Community Forest” and “Ban Yang Tone Community Forest” in Kanchanaburi Province; 2) study the problems and obstacles in the co-management of the community forests to propose guidelines for their successful co-management. The study employed qualitative methods through co-management concept of Sen & Nielsen (1996), study area was a community forest in Kanchaniaburi Province. Collected data by in-depth interviews with 18 key informants including personnel from government agencies and community members involved in the co-management of community forests. Data were analyzed by summarizing the content based on the research objectives through descriptive analysis.
The results revealed that 1) the co-management of the government and the two community forests follows the theoretical framework. Specifically, there is the collaborative management with mutual agreements on the division of roles and responsibilities, as well as the sharing of benefits. 2) the problems and obstacles in the co-management of the community forests was the implemetation were clear roles and responsibilites od each sector as follows: The government is responsible for promoting the establishment of community forests; once established, the community forests receive subsidies and guidelines for successful co-management additionally, the government supports the construction of networks and has the role of jointly supporting the implementation by providing policies, collaborating in planning and offering opinions, providing knowledge, conducting training, organizing study tours, providing seedling support, coordinating with agencies for assistance, and possibly participating in conducting activities. Furthermore, the responsibilities of the public sector in the co-management consist of collaborating in planning, actively participating in activities, and sharing in economic benefits, leading to an improved quality of life, while the government benefits from the successful co-management in terms of the effective policy.