The MAP Asia office is directly involved in managing and facilitating a variety of community-based programmes within the North Andaman region of Thailand. The projects are being carried out in fisheries dependent villages along the Andaman coast in Krabi, Phang Nga and Ranong provinces. In collaboration with partnering organizations Naucrates and Andaman Discoveries, MAP Asia is working toward empowering local communities through the following:

1. Youth Environmental Education Programs

2. Natural Resource Capacity Building Efforts

3. Conservation, Management and Restoration Program
4. Community-based tourism (CBT) initiative
5. Supplementary livelihood development projects

Contact: Jim Enright, Asia Regional Coordinator
Email: mapasia@mangroveactionproject.org

MAP North Andaman Projects

•Ban Lion Community Natural Resource Conservation and Management Project

The Ban Lion village is a newly created post-tsunami community established with support from Lions Clubs International. It was developed in response to the displacement of tsunami victims from several villages on the island of Koh Phra Thong. In 2008, MAP and partnering organization Naucrates initiated a two year "Community Natural Resource Conservation and Management Project" with funding from The Lion Foundation, Thailand. Some of the project's goals and objectives include: introducing environmentally friendly practices to improve the living conditions of the Ban Lion village community; strengthening local community capacity to implement conservation programs; increase scientific knowledge of the biology and conservation of marine turtles while involving villagers in the protection of their habitats; increrase local environmental awareness; and develop a homestay programme for Thai and foreign visitors.

The project has been largely successful in working toward these goals. In addition to the village "greening" and homestay initiatives, great strides in community environmental education and awareness have occurred through the Community Coastal Resource Centre (CCRC). The CCRC consists of two donated houses converted into a simple community nature and education centre which is the focal point for conservation activities. Furthermore, the project has successfully involved the village in natural resource conservation and management through the creation of a local conservation coordination team, participation in mangrove study, and rehabilitation, along with research, and sea turtle activities. Ultimately, the project shows great potential for continued growth and success.

Additional Resources:

- MAP's Involvement Timeline at Koh Phra Thong

 - ECOT Summary Report: Building Local Capacity on CBT & Natural Resource Management

     - Annex 1: Group management training report (June 2009)

     - Annex 2: CBT Capacity Building Report (June 2009)

     - Annex 3: CBT Study Trip to Koh Yao Noi (June 2009)

    - Annex 4: Report on Seagrass Related Activities

     - Annex 5: Seagrass Workshop Report (Thai)

     - Annex 6: Seagrass Posters (Thai)

     - Annex 7: Seagrass Posters (English)

     - Annex 8: Seagrass Monitoring Procedures (English)

- Ban Lion Project Foundation Report (April 2009)

MAP-Asia would like to acknowledge the financial support of:

• Lions Foundation of Thailand
• Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism
  

•Seagrass Monitoring at Ban Lion

In June 2009, MAP initiated a programme to monitor seagrass with the participation of local people from Ban Lion village. The monitoring follows the scheme of Seagrass-Watch, which has sites in several countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The seagrass meadows near the village are an important fisheries resource, yielding molluscs, crab, shrimp, sea cucumbers, and fish (especially rabbitfish and groupers). The seagrass is also food for the endangered species such as dugongs and sea turtles, which are the focus of important regional conservation efforts. Early monitoring efforts found seagrass feeding trails representing the presence of dugong grazing.  This further supports the need for locals to undertake seagrass conservation measures. Addtionally, there is great concern from the local community about the protection of fisheries stocks from over-exploitation by outsiders. Thier participation in seagrass monitoring improves their stewardship abilities and responsibility for the seagrass environment.

For more information please see article "Lion Village" in Seagrass-Watch Issue 38 September 2009.

in Naucrates News Update.

Barry Bendell, a MAP volunteer, would like to thank the Rufford Small Grants Foundation for supporting this project,  "Community-Based Seagrass Monitoring and Conservation at Phra Thong Island".

•Youth in Action for Next Generations

Youth groups from the Upper Andaman Coast have operated sustainable development projects for several years. Youth in Action for Next Generations (YANG) (a project supported by the EU) is helping to build upon youth's previous efforts by expanding the community network to a global audience. YANG's primary objective is to provide young people the necessary skills to create local actions in favour of sustainable development through global collaboration.

Through a collaborative partnership with Andaman Discoveries, MAP began facilitating the YANG project in support of the youth conservation group in Ban Talae Nok village located on the North Andaman coast. This program provides support while also linking them with youth groups in seven Asian and European countries, including a visit from partners in France and Hungary. By operating their own projects and learning from peers all over the world, youth are given the skills and knowledge to create sustainable development programs. Furthermore, they have taken an active part in decision making, which has had a major impact on resource-use issues affecting their futures. Networking amongst those groups will help to continue to build their capacity in order to accomplish their activities successfully in the community. MAP also assisted in organizing the YANG seminar in Kuraburi which encourages young people to become aware of their involvement in sustainable resource management.

MAP Asia would like to acknowledge the financial support of:

• Pistes-Solidaires of France
• Andaman Discoveries of Thailand
• Cottonwood Foundation of USA
• IUCN - Thailand Program

•Demonstrating Ecological Mangrove Restoration at Ban Talae Nok Village

In January of 2009, MAP began work on the Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) demonstration site within the homestay community of Ban Talae Nok village located on the North Andaman Coast in Ranong province. EMR is an alternative method in restoring the full diversity of mangroves habitats by modeling management efforts off of nature rather than plantation-based schemes.  Local partners, including the Ban Talae Nok Youth Group, the Community-Based Tourism (CBT) group and several members of the community are all steadily involved with MAP's staff in fulfilling the project goals. The project is primarily focused on: a) rehabilitating a local abandoned aquaculture pond back to a healthy mangrove habitat, b) increasing the area of Nypa Palm (an important economic mangrove plant for roof thatch production), c) introducing concepts of community management and sustainable resource utilization with the intent of improving the community's capacity in undertaking future conservation work, d) exploring the viability of developing value added products from Nypa Palm as a supplementary income for the BTN fishing community.

Currently, the EMR project has succeeded in initiating the empowerment process of the community while creating a sense of solidarity. This strengthening of the village as a whole has proven very useful in re-establishing a sense of place and entitlement. Upon completion, the EMR site will be a valuable educational resource for others who are interested in modelling the successes of Ban Talae Nok's community-based resource management practices.

MAP-Asia would like to acknowledge the financial support of:

• Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany 
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Thailand Program.

Resources: 

• Photo sheet of EMR activities at Ban Talay Nok, Ranong (pdf 4 MB)
• EMR Community Training Workshop Report (pdf 800 KB)
• Short Film on EMR Project at Ban Talay Nok, Ranong (pdf 20 MB)

• Ecological Mangrove Restoration at Bang Lang Da Village, Krabi
  

Wetlands International – Thailand Office, Mangrove Action Project and the Asia Pacific Forum for Environment and Development have joined together to restore a former aquaculture pond back to a functioning mangrove ecosystem, in partnership with the local people. This rehabilitation has provided a test-bed for the development and demonstration of low-cost techniques to implement ‘ecological mangrove rehabilitation’, which re-establishes the site’s natural hydrology, topography and facilitates natural regeneration. Nypa palm in particular has been encouraged as it is used extensively but sustainably by the local people in their livelihood activities.

Originally the site used to be mangrove, but was cleared for aquaculture approximately 10 years ago. The resulting 0.75ha pond was used for about 5 years before being abandoned. Three years ago the mud wall abutting the concrete sluice gate eroded sufficiently for tidal flushing to be re-established. However, despite sufficient flushing, natural regeneration was not occurring due to the pond floor being too low. Thus the team surveyed the pond and developed a plan to improve the hydrology by excavating a series of channels and with the spoil make new hillocks, to mimic what a natural mangrove would look like.

This work has allowed the testing of various ideas, digging techniques, tools, exploration of how much a meter of channel takes to dig, dibbling experimentation, erosion tests and so on. The site has already had many groups of visitors who have been interested to learn about EMR. The progress can be followed at http://www.mangroverehabilitation.blogspot.com.

APFED Final EMR Report (PDF) 1.7 MB
APFED Project EMR Powerpoint Presentation

MAP-Asia would like to acknowledge the financial support of:

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