Never have the prospects for
Thailand's forests been so
bleak. Nearly a decade after the
logging ban was passed,
reforestation efforts have
stalled, illegal logging is
rampant, land disputes with
villagers are rising and
Thailand's forests continue to
shrink.
While there are many factors
involved in the continuing
demise of forests, the biggest
problem is poor management by
Royal Forestry Department
(RFD) officials, whose corrupt
tendencies have been carefully
nurtured by greedy political
overseers.
Want evidence?
Look at the current RFD
leadership. One deputy director
general, Prawat Thanadkha, is
currently accused of having
received and attempting to pass
on a bribe related to the
Salween logging scandal.
Another deputy director general,
Wattana Kaewkamnerd, is
currently on trial for allegedly
having failed to properly
supervise logging in the Mae
Pai Forest Reserve, a
12-year-old scandal in which
25,000 trees were cut down. At
the time, Wattana was a
supervisor in the Forestry
Management Division, but the
court case does not seem to
have harmed his promotion
prospects.
The director general himself,
meanwhile, is ready to step
down in the wake of the
Salween scandal. He is fully
aware, after all, that his three
predecessors in the job were all
forced to depart amid scandal.
While the RFD has many
capable and dedicated officers
at lower levels, it is virtually
impossible for them to rise to
any positions of real power
without ''playing the game'', that
is, without buying the positions.
And so the rot continues to
spread throughout the
department.
It has long been clear that the
only way to protect Thailand's
forests and marine parks
effectively will be to move the
conservation agencies which
oversee them out of the RFD.
But no politician has seemed
willing to countenance such a
manoeuvre -- until now.
At a meeting with a group of
journalists last Friday,
Agriculture Minister Pongpol
Adireksarn said he believes
moving the conservation
agencies out of both the
forestry and fisheries
departments (which also looks
after coral reefs and mangrove
forests) is ultimately the best
way to promote conservation in
Thailand, and he is looking into
the possibility of setting up a
new Natural Resources
Conservation Department.
While this would not solve all
the problems facing Thailand's
forests, it would help
immensely. The old culture of
corruption would be left behind
in the RFD, and a new culture of
conservation could be nurtured.
Along with improved forest
management, a new department
would have far more credibility
with the public and may be
better able to negotiate
settlements with villagers living
in conservation areas.
It certainly will not be easy to
transfer the agencies, however,
as many vested interests both
within and outside the ministry
will try to prevent it. On the
other hand, there are some
high-ranking officials who
discreetly approve of the move,
and anyone who is concerned
about the state of Thailand's
forests should also offer
Pongpol vocal support.
The veteran politician seems an
unlikely hero of the forests, but
in his conversation with the
press he demonstrated a
well-rounded understanding of
conservation issues. He has
already moved to review a
disastrous Cabinet resolution
passed last year by the Chavalit
administration which allowed
forest dwellers to gain land
rights documents and thereby
spurred on encroachment. He
also spoke lucidly on the whole
issue of tourism in national
parks, and how encroachment
problems need to be solved.
It is often said that things seem
darkest before the dawn. Is it
possible that Pongpol can lead
us toward the light? It is too
soon to say, but if he can
indeed come through and take
Thailand's conservation
agencies out of the RFD's
murky embrace, he may just
earn Thailand's gratitude for
generations to come.