MAP Community Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration Network members from Andaman Sea Coast visit the Gulf of Thailand’s East Coast

I was so delighted to visit the Pred Nai mangrove community
near the Cambodia border as I felt like I had returned home. I first visited
Pred Nai while working with RECOFTC (the Regional
Community Forest Training Center for Asia and Pacific, now called the Center
for People and Forests) before I joined MAP 12 years ago and have since visited
Pred Nai many times. As this is the first place I learned about mangrove I am
full of good memories when visiting Pred Nai. 

Between 23-25 July, 2018 my colleague Em (Mr. Udomsak
Pariwatpan) from the MAP Thailand team and I, together with eight CBEMR network
representatives from Ranong, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang Provinces in Thailand celebrated
Mangrove Action Day or the International Day for the Conservation of the
Mangrove Ecosystem
on the 26^th of July by learning and sharing experiences on
community-based mangrove conservation and restoration at Pred Nai Community,
Trat Province on the eastern coast of Thailand.  Our CBEMR members gained valuable knowledge
from the Pred Nai Community who have over 30 years of experience in participatory
mangrove management.  The highlight of
the trip was visiting the 7.2 hectares of restoration site which the villagers started
to restore 9 years ago in abandoned shrimp ponds back to natural forest again.
This mangrove restoration project was a concrete example of a conservation
group allocating their own community conservation funds to buy the abandoned
shrimp ponds and return them back mangroves. 
Through their experience, Pred Nai members have become well-equipped in
community-based practices and have developed a strong community organization working
as a learning center for the region and even at the national and international
levels as well.

One outstanding concern made by Uncle Yai (Mr. Amnuay
Chumanee), one of the conservation leaders at Pred Nai, concerned how to
transfer their conservation awareness to the Pred Nai youths so what they’ve
achieved is not lost.  This is clearly an
important issue looking forward for the sustainability of the conservation
group and the work they carry-out.

Participants from the Andaman CBEMR network were asked to reflect
on the key lessons learnt which they will be taking home while at the Kung
Krabaen Bay Royal Development Study Center, an excellent mangrove restoration
area with boardwalk in Chantaburi Province before returning home.  Most of the members observed and emphasized
the importance of the strong community organization at Pred Nai, which is not
only a conservation group but also includes collaborating with all the other
groups in the community.  The community mangrove
forest regulation needs to be practical but not conflict with official law and
strictly enforced by the local conservation committee.  Another learning point shared at the meeting
was that the learning center management needs to collect high-quality accurate information
and be able to be clearly   presented to visitors groups with the
participation of local people in all aspects of the process.  As learning center is one of our CBEMR members
projects which members plan to develop in their own community so that local
people can validate the information and proudly present from their own personal
experience.

Besides all the lessons the group learned from this study
trip, I think the trip was a great success because the relationship between MAP
and the participants have become stronger through the time we spent
together.  I am very confident that we
will continue working together as a small network and that we will grow strong
as we follow the motto “small but strong”.