Forestland for the people: A forest village project in northeast Thailand

The purpose of this study is two-fold. The first is to provide a detailed analysis of the processes and achievements of an FAO-assisted project to rehabilitate a degraded area in the Khao Phy Luang National Reserved Forest in Northern Thailand through the community forestry approach. In this respect, the study is written for development planners and foresters in Thailand as a means of helping these national experts evaluate the results of their efforts in this area, and to make appropriate decisions regarding the expansion of the community forestry approach throughout rural Thailand. The second, more far-reaching purpose of the case study is to draw attention to elements of interantional relevance. Although it refers to a single, specific campaign, many of the experiences reported in the case study can be applied in a wide variety of socio-economic conditions. As a still relatively new concept, every community forestry effort has lessons to teach about forestry as a tool and a resource for rural development.