Foreword

Great interest, both in India and elsewhere, has been shown in the Gujarat forestry experience involving local participation. In 1982, FAO was requested by the Government of India to support a study of forestry activities in Gujarat. This study Evaluation of the Gujarat Social Forestry Programme, was published in 1985. Although it produced new information, it also pointed out the 'need for case studies which would examine the dynamics of farm forestry, as well as the benefits and costs to farmers, and the perception of these costs and benefits of the rural people involved, especially the poor.

The case studies presented in this document were carried out by Dr. Shobhita Jain under the direction of M. Hoskins. In doing the studies, Dr. Jain has analysed some of the questions raised by previous reports through indepth case studies of various social groups in different communities and involved in contrasting forestry schemes. She first places each case study in relation to the market economy. Her findings and insights shed light on the complexities of successful farm forestry and on the danger of generalizing, especially on such issues as trees replacing food crops or conflicts of goals between the forest service and participating farmers.

The success she describes of large-scale farmers includes current efforts to diversify species for a broader market. Small scale farmers, on the other hand, are found to be in need of support services such as market information and assistance in the organization of buying and selling cooperatives.

The success seen in the tribal cooperative movement requires support of NGO and government services. Dr. Jain also raises questions of self help and continuity, in situations in which large-scale outside support is used to produce change.

This is one of a series of case studies produced by the Community Forestry Unit of the Policy and Planning Service of FAO. This series is being developed in order to provide insights into the functioning, dynamics and impacts of various community forestry interventions especially as seen by the rural people themselves. The case study series is being funded by the Swedish International Development Authority.

M.R. de Montalembert
Chief, Policy and Planning Service Forestry Department

List of maps

Terms and abbreviations

LAND AREA CONVERSION FACTORS

US DOLLAR/THAI BAHT EXCHANGE RATES

Introduction

The purpose of this study is two-fold. The first is to provide a detailed analysis of the processes and achievements of an FAO-assisted project to rehabilitate a degraded area in the Khao. Phu Luang National Reserved Forest in Northern Thailand through: the community forestry approach. In this respect, the study is written for development planners and foresters in Thailand as a means of helping these national experts evaluate the results of their efforts in this are:, and to make appropriate decisions regarding the expansion of tide community forestry approach throughout rural Thailand.

The second, more far-reaching purpose of the case study is to draw attention to elements of international relevance. Although it refers to a single, specific campaign, many of the experiences reported in the case study can be applied in a wide variety of socio-economic conditions. As a still relatively new concept, every community forestry effort has lessons to teach about forestry as a tool and a resource for rural development.

The forest village project in Thailand is attempting to address number of common problems with an approach which is not at all common and contains unique elements which merit study for their applicability in other situations and other countries. First, it is attempting to provide a socio-economically viable stable alternative to shifting cultivation through an integrated land use approach combining food crops and forestry activities. It is also addressing the dual and sometimes conflicting goals of forestry, i.e. watershed protection/ reforestation and utilization of forestry resources to provide a better livelihood and socio-economic environment in a basically land poor agrarian society. Finally, it is a voluntary resettlement scheme based on providing roads, water points and other social service and production supports thereby allowing isolated forest encroachers an opportunity to enter the mainstream of Thai society.