Forest Utilization, Understanding the Law and Creating Community Regulation for Sustainability in Ban Pong Development Project Area under the Royal Initiative, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

To establish a concrete land use regulation, it is necessary to acquire the basic information on the existing land use practices of community in the surrounding area. This study aimed to survey the status, occupation and forest utilization patterns of the population surrounding the area of the Ban Pong Development Project area under the royal initiative, Chiang Mai Province as well as to test their basic knowledge on forest law and to collect their opinions regarding the conservation approach. Data was collected with the aid of a structured interview of 267 people. The results revealed that the majority of the interview samples were female at a total of180 samples, and most were at age 46-55. There was a continuation of usage in all seasons within forest area in Pa Phai Subdistrict involving 100 % of the households. Most often used plants were medicinal plants belonging to 31 types. Regarding their understanding of the law within different sections in Chapter 2 of the National Reserved Forest Act of 1964, there appeared to be at a moderate level for every section. Reflections from focus group discussions revealed that guideline for the establishment of rules and regulations acceptable by the community should be created by community itself with guidance and information from officials in charge, particularly those from the Royal Forest Department and Maejo University. In order to achieve a clearly stated rules for the use of forest resources and to specify a penalty for rule violations.