A couple of weeks ago, a government committee was busy working in Chiang Mai's Mae Chaem district to introduce what it hopes could be a breakthrough to the age-old problem of forest encroachment, which has robbed the country of its precious natural resources.
The Committee on National Land Policy (CNLP) met with local residents in the mountainous district, where the forest has been invaded by landless people looking for a place to farm.
Although the problem is not limited to Mae Chaem, the district is ideal for experimenting with the concept of drawing a line separating the fertile forest from areas where farming is permitted -- including those that used to be forestland.
The district itself is fraught with forest invasion. Sections of the vast 1.7 million rai of lush forest carpeting the mountains are home to about 60,000 people.
Of the forests, 1.3 million rai are designated as reserves, off-limits to human activities. However, only 30,000 rai are legally accessible by farmers who have been granted land entitlement papers.
In other words, more than 80% of the 60,000 residents are occupying the forest illegally.
Wide tracts of the forest have been razed to the ground to make way for the monocropping of the area's favourite cash crops, maize and rubber trees.
These crops need wide spaces to grow, pushing the residents to keep encroaching on the forest to expand their farms.
The destruction has left many pockets of the mountains denuded, and watersheds of the rivers in the North dry. It has also deteriorated the state of the once fertile forest.
The authorities cannot keep up with the endless invasion as they are faced with the routine task of taking local residents to court for trespassing on protected forest.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has explored what could be a permanent solution to the problem. It reckons the CNLP is an agent of positive change.
The panel was set up by the current government, and is tasked with reorganising communities living illegally in the forest.
Senior-ranking cabinet members led the committee on a visit to Mae Chaem district recently to work on an ambitious model on forest management, which is to be implemented by the CNLP.
Gen Surasak stressed a critical need to draw a clear line between farming and forest areas with all stakeholders agreeing to the designation.
But local communities, which are party to the forest encroachment, must also declare they will plant more trees to replace those they cut down and protect the forest.
"Mae Chaem is similar to [the nearby province of] Mae Hong Son, where only 38 villages legally stand in forest areas. The rest are regarded by law as forest encroachers.
"The fact is we can't drive them out of the forest. We are looking to see how they can remain where they are and live in harmony with nature," the minister said.
The CNLP was established with the objective of allocating state-owned land to people who make a living on farming. Most of the land allocated are within forest zones.
The ministry, which is leading the CNLP's efforts to put a stop to forest encroachment, met with communities in the forests and convinced them there is a way that can kill two birds with one stone -- stopping forest intrusion while sparing the residents from eviction from their farmland.
They may continue living in the forest, provided they cease encroaching immediately. The ministry would then step in and set aside the areas, which have been cleared but still have not been farmed on, for reforestation.
Attapol Charoenchansa, deputy chief of the Department of Royal Forest, said the government's position is to grant land access rights where necessary.
The recipients of the access cannot sell the land, but they can make a living from the land to feed their families.
They must sign a 30-year contract to lease the land and also pay 25 baht per rai each year. The payment serves as a reminder to the residents that they do not own the land.
"They can continue to live life as they did. However, that comes with a string attached.
"They are urged to forego monocropping in favour of mixed-crop farming. They also must grow big trees to increase the size of the forest, which helps the department to rehabilitate the deteriorated forest cover," he said.
Mr Attapol added if the model is practised elsewhere in the country, it could add 10 million rai of forest within five years.
The department has suggested locals to grow trees and plants that can be consumed and/or sold at different seasons so they can harvest all year round.
The idea was inspired by the late King Bhumibol's teaching on agricultural sustainability.
Sommana Samaphuek, who joined the government's land allocation scheme and the department's project on constructive use of forest to augment income, said the department assigned 20 rai of forest to her family.
She made the switch from farming maize to growing multiple crops two years ago.
On the farm, she watches an assortment of trees, fruits and vegetables take turn yielding produce throughout the year. They include rice, chilli, pineapples and giant tamarinds and bananas. She also plants teak for its precious wood.
In her early 50s, Ms Sommana said before the CNLP came along, she could think of nothing else to grow but maize, despite having earned low income from it. She also wound up indebted from buying expensive fertilisers and pesticides.
She said she had no one to guide on what choice she and other farmers had when it comes to farming. But her life is slowly turning around after meeting with the CNLP officials.
"I have nothing to lose, so I tried. I found that I am on the right path. I can quite easily make 300 baht a day from selling the produce in my farm. That's enough.
"I also managed to save more because I don't use as much chemicals. I may start growing coffee soon," she said.
She is among the 907 local residents who joined the CNLP scheme.
The forest officials are collaborating with other agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, to educate the locals about choosing crops that can be sold for a good amount of money.
Officials are also promoting cooperatives, to strengthen production, increase the farmers' bargaining power and finding the right market to sell the crops.
The department is planning to allocate 29,627 rai of forest to the poor in Mae Chaem district in due course.
Meanwhile, the ministry wants to open up access to 1.27 million rai of forestland to 880 communities in 70 provinces by the end of next year. Currently, 405,185 rai of forest in 55 provinces has been allocated.
Apart from Mae Chaem district, similar forest land management models are also being implemented in other provinces such as Loei, Nan and Mae Hong Son.
