Community-based Learning Centers in Trat: Sharing Local Knowledge to Sustain Coastal Resources in Eastern Thailand

A network of collaborative community learning centers has been established to build the skills and knowledge of locals in sustainable mangrove practices, representing an important move toward rejuvenating and maintaining marine habitats in mangrove stands throughout eastern Thailand

Story and photos by Estelle Srivijittakar

The roots of these strange trees stretch through the brackish water like gnarled fingers, adorned with oysters and barnacles in the way human hands might carry rings, or warts. Like human hands, too, these roots intertwine to hold up more than one might expect – an ecosystem, a community, a way of life. As our boat drifts through a corridor surrounded by mangrove trees, everything I’d read about the value of these forests comes into sharp focus.

We are in Pred Nai, a village of 632 people and 164 households, nestled in Thailand’s easternmost Province, Trat.   In this seaboard region, the livelihoods of residents are shaped by the health of their mangrove forests.  People gather crab, fish, and crayfish for subsistence and income, relying on the vibrant marine habitat fostered by the mangrove trees. The massive root systems help mitigate the impact of extreme weather events like hurricanes and tsunamis: according to the 2007 FAO report The role of coastal forests in the mitigation of tsunami impacts, “mangroves can absorb 70-90% of the energy of a normal wave.”

Waves approach the mangrove coast in Trat, Thailand

Rampant commercial aquaculture and logging in the 1980’s devastated these mangroves, depriving villagers of both livelihoods and protection from frequent tropical storms.  In 1986, Pred Nai responded to excessive logging by restricting access to the narrowing fringes of estuaries through the formation of the Pred Nai Community Forestry group. 

Since then, the village of Pred Nai has become a powerful example of how committed, community-based management can empower communities by securing livelihood resources, sharing cultural knowledge, and enabling strong local governance while restoring mangrove ecosystems.  Local leaders have taken the initiative to provide others in their community with meaningful learning experiences to understand the benefits of sustainable coastal management to preserve these vital resources for generations to come.

Learning Centers for Mangrove Health and Community Empowerment

With sponsorship from Mangroves for the Future (MFF) and partners of RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests, six sub-districts of Trat have developed a program to create a network of community-based learning centers (Cb-LC) in the province.  This US $168,000 project will establish centers that will build the skills and knowledge of locals in sustainable mangrove practices, who will return as teachers and mentors for their communities. Empowering more local people to manage these critical resources represents an important move toward rejuvenating and maintaining marine habitats in mangrove stands throughout Trat.

After signing the attendance sheet for a six sub-district community meeting, RECOFTC staff guide local resident through the agenda

A Trat resident arrives just in time for a community meeting to review and discuss topics and presentations at the inception with the Governor

A Trat resident introduces himself to his fellow participants

While RECOFTC has provided the support and training needed for the community-based learning centers, the real impact has and will come from participating locals.  RECOFTC researchers began meeting with community leaders in June, 2011 to arrange information collection on the resource use of mangrove and coastal habitats within participating sub-districts. They employed a research method called Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), carrying out dozens of group and individual interviews to involve locals in interpreting and analyzing issues unique to their village and creating an action plan. Through this process, RECOFTC and residents also gained a better understanding of what resources are used and by whom in terms of relative wealth within the community.  Carrying out separate community assessments showed that each village relies on mangrove and coastal resources differently to support their household incomes, necessitating individualized management plans.

Different Needs, Same Solidarity

In the sub-district of Krang Lhod, we saw that well-off populations relied on catching crab, fish or crayfish for 15% of their income, while middle-class households depended on the same activity more than twice as much (35%) and poor households three times as much (46%). Poor households relied on catching crabs for an additional 17% of their income, making marine resources a huge chunk of their livelihood (63%).

A villager from Nam Chieo spending his afternoon untangling and mending his fishing net.

Then there are sub-districts like Tala Na, where poor and well-off households rely on mangrove resources equally for their income, but it is clear that financial assets play a role in the different access and utilization of these resources. Well-off households prioritize the establishment of marine nurseries like natural shrimp and fish ponds (19%) followed by looking for shellfish and crab (10%, 4%), where as poor households harvest black crabs and fish (18%, 12%) for revenue.

These differences are important in defining appropriate community profiles to help locals address the development challenges specific to each community. Moreover, sharing the diverse processes and results with other communities will broaden locals’ understanding of the coastal and mangrove habitats they share and the consequences of degrading these areas.  Key elements of the program, such as exchanging deep, nuanced knowledge, aim to improve the livelihood of residents.  Establishing these community-based learning centers will promote greater collaboration between the sub-districts and enhance Trat’s adaptability to natural disasters and climate change.  As understood by the community, continuing to restore Trat’s mangroves will be an effort of cooperation, perseverance and patience from more than one village.

Becoming More Climate Resilient

During MFF’s field visit to Trat, I took note of the stout, robust, and proud stance of the mangrove trees.  Thick and intricate by nature, I could see how these forests act as bodyguards sheltering the coast from degradation.  Every so often, though, we passed naked, ash-colored tracts of threatened mangroves, fishing boats rigged to scrape the floor of the ocean, or trash buoyed up on the green estuarine waters. These signs all underscored the importance of October 10th in Pred Nai: on this day, I witnessed an event marking the beginning of a more resilient coastal management network in Trat that seeks to expand mangrove stands to see improvements in more conscious livelihood practices and cleaner water.

From left to right: Ratkawee Boonmake (RECOFTC’s Cb-LC Program Manager in Trat), Dr. Steen Cristensen (MFF Coordinator), Tint Thaung (RECOFTC’s Executive Director), James Bampton (RECOFTC’s Manager of Program Coordination), Ranjith Mahindapala (MFF Program Manager), Siriporn Sriaram (MFF Thailand Coordinator) on a field visit through Trat’s mangroves

Trat’s Governor, Ms. Benjawan Apruang, and RECOFTC’s Thailand Country Program Coordinator, Somying Soontornwong, invited community leaders and donors to review and discuss the project plan for each community to kick off the MFF-sponsored program. Despite the varying needs of each community, the local representatives agreed that developing stronger inter-community alliances would benefit all mangrove-dependent communities.

With over 40 representatives from Trat, a cross section of the conference room of locals focused on preparing for the meeting

From left to right: RECOFTC’s TCP Manager, Somying Soontornwong, Governor of Trat, Ms. Benjawan Apruang, and a row of residents from Trat

Sharing best practices in sustainable coastal resource management among one another will not only encourage community members to spread the news of the economical, environmental, and social benefits of sustainable living within the community, but to neighboring regions as well.  As mentioned by Governor Apruang, these community-based learning centers will provide an important example for the younger generations in the community to initiate or uphold their involvement. The program encourages locals—including young people—to be stewards of their own land to ensure today’s effort is carried through into the future. 

From left to right: Siriporn Sriaram (MFF Thailand Coordinator), Ranjith Mahindapala (MFF  Program Manager), and Dr. Steen Cristensen (MFF Coordinator)

Excited attendees of the Cb-LC Inception

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