Open Collections

Nosten, Marie

University of British Columbia

The community forest (CF) discourse in Thailand addresses areas such as forest conservation, agriculture production, and cultural identity. Rotational farming, sometimes called swidden farming, is a traditional form of agroforestry practised by upland Indigenous and Ethnic Minority communities like the Karen People and enhances the adaptive capacity of farming communities. However, it is not legally recognized as a form of CF management within protected areas. This case study on the Karen village of Ban Klang in the province of Lampang showcases how rotational farming may simultaneously account for the three sectors. This research was designed using elements of participatory research, participants were purposefully sampled and interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Data was also gathered from participant observation and document analysis. The first topic addresses how rotational farming contributes to the forest-dependent livelihood of Ban Klang and how the villagers have adapted to external and internal pressures for change to maintain this way of life instead of transforming to conventional and often intensive mono-crop farming. The data is presented using a hybrid model that has elements of both the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and the Social Ecological System model. The second topic addresses how rotational farming may be permitted within protected areas through the advocacy for a Special Cultural Zone (SCZ). The SCZ land designation has been proposed based on the goals of the August 10th 2010 Cabinet Resolution which calls for the revitalization of Karen customary way of life as it is widely recognized as a contributor for biocultural conservation. The SCZ concept addresses short historical socio-cultural and ecological issues for upland Karen farming communities, but does not have sufficient consideration for long-term factors such as climate change and inclusion of the various other Indigenous and Ethnic Minority communities in the country.

Text

2024-03-21

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87608

Forestry

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/