Women-led forest recovery: Ban Pong’s community efforts strengthen fire prevention and restore forests

The village of Ban Pong is part of the Ngao Model Forest. Its community forest is thriving, and the area remains verdant year-round, even during the scorching summer months. But this was not the case in 2004, when Rachaprapa Kamphad became village head.

Kamphad recalls her first efforts trying to expand the local forest. “I wanted to grow trees using seedlings from our local nursery, but the saplings would not survive,” she says. Meanwhile, wildfires posed an urgent threat. “To minimize wildfire impacts, we built check dams using fertilizer bags filled with sand. But these collapsed during the rainy season, leaving our creeks littered with the white fertilizer bags. I remember thinking to myself that this was all unacceptable.”

It was evident that the community needed better sustainable forest management practices. To learn from a village that had successfully restored its forest area and managed wildfires, Kamphad and 69 members from her community travelled to Huai Hong Khrai, a village in Chiang Mai. This field trip, Kamphad says, helped sow the seeds of Ban Pong’s most successful initiatives – the construction of cement check-dams and community-led wildfire prevention.

Cement check dams, a key to steady water supply

Upon their return from Huai Hong Khrai, Kamphad reached out to the Pha Muang Task Force for training on cement check dam construction. In 2007, the community installed over 25 cement check dams across a creek. “My people had never seen check dams that worked like catchments,” she recalls. “Our water availability had improved drastically, and I started to gain confidence. l saw that we could build check dams specifically to store water.”

Since these early years, the community has embraced check dams as an integral part of their daily life. There is now an established tradition where loved ones or personal achievements are commemorated with the construction of cement check dams. “We have around 500 cement check dams in Ban Pong now,” says Kamphad. “And almost all of them have been built by volunteers.”

Efficient wildfire management, an effort led by women

Another major win for the community has been its wildlife management efforts. Ban Pong has not faced a significant wildfire outbreak in the past 10 years. This is due to a robust wildfire management system that was first instituted in 2007.

What began as a fire prevention effort has also become a story of empowerment. Led by Kamphad, eight of the wildfire management group’s 10 members are women. “We choose prevention over cure,” says Kamphad as she elaborates on their fire management principle. “Each year, we install firebreaks as early as January,” she says. “Our villagers also have walkie talkies through which they report to the wildfire prevention team as soon as they spot the faintest sign of smoke or fire.”

The village’s wildfire prevention volunteers are divided into two groups – fire lookout and firefighting. The fire lookout volunteers are stationed in forest areas, with two crew members assigned to each lookout spot. For firefighters, each team is composed of four crew members with different roles and responsibilities. “If two members are in charge of suppressing a fire from the left and right sides, the rest of the team will ‘mop up’ or limit the spread by putting out burning debris with leaf blowers,” says Kamphad.

The volunteers are supported by a wildfire prevention headquarters, which provides necessities such as food, water and fuel expenses.

Ban Pong at present, a village transformed

With sustained water supply and no forest fires, a healthy ecological system has returned to Ban Pong. These days, mushrooms, once sparse in the vicinity, grow in abundance along with trees in the community forest. This has made foraging for and selling non-timber forest products and wild edible greens a stable livelihood source for many community members.

“During fire season, the forest absorbs damaging smoke particles, reducing air pollution for all,” says Kamphad. “This is one of my proudest achievements along with the fact that strong community involvement and solidarity are in the architecture of our success. I want to thank my people for all of this.”

As climate change continues to transform the landscape of Ngao, extreme and unpredictable weather seem to be on the horizon. “Although Ban Pong has not suffered climate-induced natural disasters, our neighbouring villages have experienced serious climate impacts such as frequent floods and landslides,” says Kamphad. “We must continue to protect our forest and do our best to face the challenges that lie ahead. And as our generation is ageing, it is the young people of our village who are our future.”

###

The Regional Model Forest Network–Asia is supported by the Global Leadership Program under the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Canada. RECOFTC is the Secretariat of RMFN–Asia.