Relationship between Socio-Economic Activities and Deforestation in Khun Sa Watershed Area, Northern Thailand N. Nakamura1, T. Noochdumrong2, S. Kalyawongsa2, C. Umemiya1, H.Chikaraishi3 and M. Amano1 1Waseda University, Saitama, Japan 2Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand 3Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Abstract Since the 1960s, the increased demand for teak and the logging of timber accelerated forest degradation in Thailand. It has been recognized that because of this, forest coverage in the county has decreased remarkably. Additional forest degradation has occurred due to increased population pressure and farmland in the rural area. Following a serious effort by the government to address forest issues, a policy aiming for forest conservation, with a ban on both logging and illegal logging, has been implemented. This study focused on deforestation associated with land use in the Khun Sa watershed in northern Thailand. The land use patterns in this study were driven by hill tribes, with two communities studied: the Hmong village called Khun Sa Nai; and the Karen village called Khun Sa Nok, which are located along the river Mae Nam Pai. The study was conducted to reveal land use patterns, using aerial photographs and topographic maps. In addition, an interview survey focusing on socioeconomic situation was implemented to obtain a comprehensive picture of the conditions. The Hmong people were commercially oriented. They were using agriculture crops as an alternative to opium, with highland cash crops including cabbage, tea and fruits. At present, the diversity of crops has made agricultural activities complex. Though forest degradation has been a serious problem, forest cover has increased due to the emergence of community forests located in the mountains behind the villages. On the other hand, the Karen people have operated a sustainable farming system such as paddy fields in Proceedings of the FORTROP II: Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World, 17-20 November 2008, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand 160 FORTROP II: Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World Khun Sa Nok. Even though the Karen people seemed to prefer a simple life, it is likely that they have increased farm land for cash crops, which is similar to other neighboring village such as Khun Sa Nai. There were apparent distinguishable features in land use patterns between the Hmong and Karen villages. The study examined the impacts caused by these differences in both hill tribes. Keywords: land use, agriculture, deforestation, ethnic groups, northern Thailand Introduction Thailand once was called ‘the kingdom of forest’ (Kashio, 1998 and Sato, 1999). Thailand has historically been rich in natural resources. Forest resources once covered 60% of the land area, providing much needed timber and non-timber benefits to Thailand supporting its agricultural production systems (Pelangi, 2000). The abundant forest received considerable attention as a valuable revenue source. At the beginning of the 19th century, the benefits from forest resources introduced by a British company fulfilled basic demands, for example supplying farm land and timber, for socio-economic development in addition to government revenue from forest cutting rights and exports (Kashio, 1998). Until the 1950s, logging companies concentrated on high value timber, leaving the majority of the other trees standing, so that the forest area diminished. The interest in forest issues was stimulated by the conflict between the sovereigns of provinces who managed forest utilization charges. The Royal Forest Department (RFD) was set up in 1896 with the main purpose of controlling teak cutting. However it was not until 1938 that the first protection and reservation in a Forest Act was passed (Chuntanaparb, 1986). It was made with the intention of creating a clear border line for government-controlled forest areas (Hayami, 2004). Forest degradation causes environment damage, soil erosion, water pollution, flood and biodiversity loss. Taking these considerations into account, the government made attempts at forest conservation. In addition, development projects have targeted the people who live around the forest. Previous studies have analyzed the state of natural resources as reflected by socio-economic conditions. Later work by Kalyawongsa (2000) showed that Volume 2: Tropical Forests and Climate Change 161 deforestation was due principally to the habits and cultures of the hill tribes in the study area. However, up until now, relatively few studies have been reported through time. The relationship between socio-economic activities and deforestation has not been studied sufficiently to show any time trend. It is necessary to focus on socio-economic conditions in northern Thailand when considering adaptable and sustainable development. In order to foresee the possibility for policy implementation, it is necessary to analyze the interventions and complexity of land use. Forest Land Use Deforestation is one of the most critical threats to countries with high biodiversity. Sustainably managed forests have multiple environmental and socio-economic functions which are important at the global, national and local scales, and play a vital part in sustainable development. Forest use played an important role in the economic growth in the 1980s. From LANDSAT data, the forest areas decreased dramatically from 23% of the whole kingdom in 1972 to 16% in 2002 (RFD, 2006). Tree planting activity on rural land has since changed significantly. There has been a substantial rise in demand for information relating to income diversification, increasing agricultural production and developing sustainable farming systems. This activity shows that the circumstances in rural areas have been changing drastically. The new methods of transportation, mainly railways and steamships, increased Thailand’s export potential and access to the agricultural population in the countryside. It commenced with the train service between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in 1903 (Sukwong, 1986) and then the national train service including north eastern Thailand in 1968 (Kashio, 1998). Consequently logging drastically expanded, supported by technical innovation and a distribution system (Sato, 1999) even if it was illegal. For about one hundred years, rice, rubber, tin and teak – the big four – made up nearly 90% of all exports. This lasted until 1968, when these products declined to just over half of all exports in favour of grain, oil or other crops. In 1968, these crops surpassed rice in export value, with world market demand increasing the production of, in particular, cassava, corn and kenaf (Sukwong, 1986). Farming has been changing from rice farming to cash crops. As mentioned above, there has been a continuous decline in forest area 162 FORTROP II: Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World due to illegal logging and encroachment by poor rural communities. Signs of improvement are apparent, however. The Swidden Cultivation Most highlanders employ slash-and-burn or shifting cultivation (swiddening). This involves the felling of forests either on a rotation or pioneer system. Following exhaustion of the soil and weed invasion, the opium growers especially prefer to move their settlements and pioneer new villages in forested land (McKinnon, 1989). After the land is cleared, it can be cultivated for a few years without using pesticides or fertilizers. However, the land quickly degrades and if the farmers can not add fertilizers and pesticides, the yield is soon very low and the farmers move on, clearing new land (Delang, 2002). Increasing pressures on fallow cycles lead to rapid conversion of the highland slopes to grassland or semi-permanent cultivation by shifting cultivators. Ethnic minorities as swiddeners are usually divided into two groups: secondary forest and primary forest swiddeners. As long as population pressures remain low, both forms of swiddening are environmentally sound. The system breaks down as population pressures increase and the length of the rotation cycle is reduced. In northern Thailand this started to happen in the late 1970s (Delang, 2002). On the one hand, the Karen villagers prefer to farm wet rice fields which results in shifting cultivation. Principally they have been operating an ecologically-informed mode of cyclic shifting cultivation. On the other hand, traditionally the Hmong villagers have grown opium for consumption and income (Masumoto, 1997). The demand for a very fertile soil by the opium leads to swiddening without ecological concern. Policy Many processes bringing marginalized people and environments into Thailand’s policy and economy come under the aegis of development (Hirsch, 1998). However the wider political reasons underlying deforestation are ignored, while the roles of logging, agribusiness, or livestock companies, often owned by national politicians or people close to them, are minimized (Deland, 2002). Even so, there is still argument about development projects, reflecting complex issues in northern Thailand. Volume 2: Tropical Forests and Climate Change 163 As part of the above discussion, there has been support by means of policy action by the government and international agencies. The interest was high in hill tribes in northern Thailand where they managed abundant forest under shifting cultivation, as they used forest resources remarkably for not only farmland but also for opium cultivation. By the mid-1980s, maize had been supplanted by cabbage, the most popular cash crop in the highlands.