2011 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 108-113
This paper provides critical appreciation of the experience of Thailand in restoration and conservation of degraded mangroves. Through literature survey, the constraints that hinder the successful restoration and conservation of mangroves, and opportunities that lead towards achieving such goal were assessed. Results revealed that since the second half of the twentieth century, Thailand lost more than half of its mangrove cover due to shrimp farming and charcoal production. This has raised concerns that led to enhanced efforts to restore and conserve the mangroves. Since Thailand ratified various relevant international agreements, it is obligated to pay serious attention towards the conservation and restoration of these ecosystems. Thus, the government launched various re-plantation projects and established impressive supportive infrastructures to facilitate such efforts. Meanwhile, the Tsunami 2004 also re-sensitized the Thai society to the protective role of mangroves as many communities took suo motu initiatives for the conservation of mangroves in their respective areas. However, ‘the success’ in mangroves conservation has remained very limited, which could be attributed to lack of policy integration and coordination among different agencies, narrow focus on the forest component of mangrove ecosystem, inadequate ecological knowledge and restoration skills among the forest land use managers, and halfhearted departmental support for community participation in mangrove restoration. Therefore, Thai policy makers must revisit the issues and opportunities, and devise appropriate policies to address the structural causes of mangroves degradation and achieve successful ecological restoration.
