Negotiated land use patterns to meet local and societal needs

Current landscape mosaic patterns of land cover in Northern Thailand can be seen as resulting from adaptation of traditional agricultural systems over time. During the 1950’s, little influence from the lowlands had been imposed on traditional systems in higher elevation zones. Subsequent outside influences, such as changing demand and new markets for crops like those associated with opium in the 1960’s, led to extensive clearance of forest in mountainous areas above 1000 meters. Increasing clearing size changed land use patterns from those formerly based on small clearings, with substantial impact on forest regeneration and watersheds in general. Other influences imposed by the Royal Thai Government (RTG) on highland areas, such as the 1960 National Park Act and the national economic and social development planning process, combined with growing political tension, fears related to national security in border areas, and foreign pressure to stop opium production, lead to further shifts in agricultural development. As a result of these processes, a series of crop substitution projects were implemented during the 1980’s, linked with efforts by the RTG to improve health service, infrastructure, and market access in the highlands. Population growth and in-migration further increased land use pressure, and by the late 1980’s projects like CARE Thailand and the Sam Mun Highland Development Project (SMHDP) began developing an integrated approach that included Participatory Land Use Planning (PLP) to address the multitude of problems and develop strategies and solutions in partnership with highland communities. These efforts also had significant effect on agricultural systems in transition. During the 1990’s, the now strong environmental movement began emerging, a community forestry law was proposed and became intensely debated, and environmental awareness grew in lowland and urban populations who began realizing the importance of upper watersheds in the north and the wider region for their future livelihoods. While a regular supply of clean water had long been taken for granted, now –for the first time in Thai history – it is an issue of concern. Other new projects were initiated by the RTG and the Royal Family to work closely with highland villagers, and now locally negotiated land use plans, combined with new GIS and remote sensing technology, are seen as a promising approach for addressing both local and societal needs. ICRAF Chiang Mai, together with the Royal Forest Department and Chiang Mai University, are supporting and conducting research on these issues and processes at their benchmark research site in the Mae Chaem district of Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand.

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