Seeking Sustainable Cattle Production in Protected Forest Areas of Northern Thailand

Transcription

1 Seeking Sustainable Cattle Production in Protected Forest Areas of Northern Thailand Takashi MASUNO Citation of this paper Masuno, T Seeking Sustainable Cattle Production in Protected Forest Areas of Northern Thailand. In: Haldane, J. (ed.). Proceedings of the Asian Conference on the Social Sciences 2010 (ACSS2010). Aichi: The International Academic Forum. pp

2 Seeking Sustainable Cattle Production in Protected Forest Areas of Northern Thailand Takashi MASUNO Hayama Center for Advanced Studies, Sokendai University Abstract The objective of this paper is to outline some of the problems that arise from grazing cattle in the government established Protected Forest Areas (PFA) that surround a Thai hillside village. And further, to explain how local residents tackled problems through discussing the sustainability of cattle grazing in forested settings. In short, the results of the study are as follows. In 1992, the villagers kept twenty cattle but a decade later this number had increased radically to 130 cattle. However by 2005 the number had declined to only ten cattle. The reason for the sharp decline in the cattle population was directly related to problems of ecological and economic sustainability. One minor reason for the instability was that the increased foliage of the PFA did not allow sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. And so, while the forests were beautiful, insufficient fodder was produced for the increased herd sizes. The key reason however was the expansion of maize croplands adjacent to the PFA. In the mid-1990s, alongside the steep increase in cattle herds there was a steep increase in lands opened for maize agriculture. There was no barrier between the PFA and the new croplands were destroyed by the excessive number of roaming and hungry cows. By the early 2000s most of villagers gave up keeping cattle. However the villagers are still seeking solutions in maintaining ecologically and economically sustainable forests, croplands, and cattle production. Key words: animal-human relationship, feeding damage, maize, hill tribe, political ecology Introduction There is global concern about the sustainability of forests. Due to concern in regard to excessive deforestation, Protected Areas have been established all over the world. However, the establishment of Protected Areas has limited the land able to be utilized for agriculture by local residents. In Thailand, some of rural residents started forest grazing their cattle in Protected Area and watershed management area in order to make a profit. In this paper, forest conservation area and tree plantation area in watershed management area are called Protected Forest Area (PFA). 1611

3 The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities 2010 Smallholders in Southeast Asia not only conduct farming but also engage in multiple other subsistence and economic activities, for example livestock husbandry. They have raised various livestock such as cattle, buffalo, pig and chicken. Most of them do not treat livestock husbandry as their main subsistence activity but they have had a close relationship with livestock (Takai et al., 2008: 146). Those livestock are sold for cash income and harvested for household consumption as well as being utilized as sacrificial animals. The importance of livestock as a significant source of cash income for smallholders has been recognized in Thailand (Chantalakhana and Skunmun, 2002). And the shifting role of large livestock roles, for example as such as roles of draft animals was pointed out in northeast Thailand (Simarks et al., 2003). The objective of this paper is to outline some of the problems that arise from grazing cattle in the government established PFA that surround a Thai hillside village. And further, to explain how local residents tackled problems through discussing the sustainability of cattle grazing in forested settings. Materials and methods Study village The field research for this project was conducted at Pha Daeng village in Phayao Province, northern Thailand (Fig.1). This village is a hillside village, which is located at about 950 m above sea level (Photo 1). The population of the village is 21 households totaling about 130 people in At least 100 years have passed Fig. 1 Study site Photo 1 Study village since the foundation of the village. The main subsistence activity is agriculture. Villagers grow upland rice for subsistence and hybrid maize for cash income. Since mid 1990s, the villagers have switched from shifting cultivation to permanent farming (Masuno and Ikeya, 2008). Both crops are grown once a year during the 1612

4 rainy season. The average cultivated area was 7.5 ha per household in Upland rice and hybrid maize accounted for 9% and 88% of the total area, respectively. All households used herbicide and chemical fertilizer for upland rice and hybrid maize cultivation in The villagers are Mien (Yao) people, who are one of the ethnic minorities in Thailand and originated from south China. Each household cultivates their fields and also keeps several livestock such as chickens, pigs, dogs and cattle (Table 1). Most of households raise chickens and pigs. But raising cattle raising was not popular in The villagers frequently sacrifice chickens (Masuno 2008; Masuno and Ikeya 2010) and pigs (Masuno and Nakai 2009) for Mien rituals. But the Mien rituals which require cattle sacrifice are extremely-limited. They raise cattle in order to make a profit. Table 1. Number of livestock raised in the study village (August 2007) Protected Areas in Thailand Thailand s protected area system was inaugurated in the 1960s following enactment of the Wild Animals Reservation Act in 1960 and the National Parks Act in 1961 (ICEM, 2003). These acts established National parks, Wildlife sanctuaries and Non-hunting areas as protected areas and the total area of protected areas reached 96,160 square kilometers in 2007 (Table 2). Table 2. Thailand s protected areas (2007) 1613

5 The RFD (Royal Forest Department) continues to establish protected areas so the area increases year after year. Usher (2009) reported that 21,134 square kilometers of protected area was under preparation in In addition to the protected area noted above, the Royal Forest Department (RFD) has claimed watershed areas to manage forest of upland area since mid-1980s (Forsyth and Walker 2008:42). That is to say, a classification system using a range of classes, 1A, 1B, 2, 3, and 4 are found around the study area. These classes are used to enforce more strict governmental regulation on the use of lands by local people. For example Forsyth and Walker note that 18 to 30 percent of lands are classified under the strict code of 1A throughout Thailand (2008: 43). The RFD established the Dooi Phaamon watershed management area in the area discussed in this paper to protect the upland watershed. The RFD started to manage this area in This watershed management area covers 201 square kilometers in total. Data collection Statistical data regarding livestock are provided from the Department of Agriculture inthailand. The author visited the study village in 2003 for the first time and has repeatedly visited there every year. Yearlong field research at Pha Daeng village was conducted in 2005 and direct observation and interview research with the villagers was also conducted. And the interview research with the officer of the RFD in Dooi Phaamon watershed management area was conducted in March In addition, a supplemental investigation was conducted in April 2009 and February Results Establishment of PFA by the Royal Forest Department The RFD started to manage this area in They constructed a management office 2 km west of the study village. Inside this watershed management area, the RFD established a forest area in which cultivation was prohibited. This forest area consists of two parts, a forest conservation area and a tree plantation area (Fig. 2). After the trees were planted, the tree plantation area was treated in the same way as the forest conservation area. The RFD did not have a map showing the planning zone of the forest conservation area until the mid-1990s. RFD officers and local villagers therefore negotiated over setting the boundaries of the forest area. The upland area of the management area was established as the forest conservation area. Since the late 1990s, the RFD in this management area has used a six-class classification (Forsyth and Walker 2008: 44) to manage the watershed area. Classes 1614

6 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4 are found around the study village. In addition to the establishment of the forest area, the activities of the RFD in the watershed management area include road maintenance and management of the production of tree seedlings. Fig. 2. Distribution of protected forest area (PFA) Note: The PFA consists of forest conservation area and tree plantation area. RFD stands for Royal Forest Department. Numbers shows the year of establishment. Source: Land use map provided by the RFD Historical changes of cattle raising The villagers said that they started cattle grazing in PFA in The lowland Thai people, kohn muang in Thai language, offered cattle grazing in the forest area around 1615

7 The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities 2010 the village. Two villagers started to keep lowland Thai people s about 20 cattle. They sent their cattle to graze in the forest conservation area to the south of the study village (Photo 2). They left the cattle in the forest and went to see them two or three times in a week. No fence to enclose the PFA was made. The cattle could go anywhere. The villagers said that few villagers occasionally kept a small number of cattle and buffalo before Cattle raising in the 1990s was substantially successful and they made a profit by selling the cattle. After this success, lowland Thai people quit cattle husbandry. And many villagers of Pha Daeng started to raise cattle in the PFA. At least nine households out of 20 households kept cattle and the total number of the cattle in the village was estimated to be nearly 130 cattle in However in the same period, feeding damage by the cattle to maize occurred frequently (Photo 3). The cattle love to eat the young shoots of maize. The maize fields adjacent PFA were damaged. In 2003, the author observed several incidents of feeding damage to maize by the cattle in the study village. The cattle damaged not only the fields of Pha Daeng village but also the fields of lowland Thai people. The cattle owners must pay compensation to the owners of maize fields. Consequently, many of the villagers could not afford to pay the money and stopped raising cattle. In 2007 only two households kept 17 cattle in total. These two households raised 30 cattle in The problem of the feeding damage was not overcome and their cattle still damage the maize fields. Thus the two households still suffer from the problem of paying compensation for feeding damage. Photo 2. Cattle are grazing in forest Photo 3. Maize fed by cattle Discussion The villagers started cattle husbandry in This was just after the RFD started

8 to manage the PFA. In that time, the villagers sought a way of effective utilization of the RFD. The villagers sacrifice chickens and pigs in their Mien rituals on a daily basis but they seldom use cattle as sacrifice animal. The villagers keep cattle for making money. During the early to mid-1990s Thailand was experiencing an economic boom. Thus, the author suspects that this lead to an increase in speculation within the livestock market and this leads to an increase in the number of cattle raised by local people. In 1992, the villagers kept about twenty cattle but a decade later this number had increased radically to 130 cattle. The villagers kept more than 100 cattle in the early 2000s. However by 2007 the number had declined to only 17 cattle. The reason for the sharp decline in the cattle population was directly related to problems of ecological and economic sustainability. One minor reason for the instability was that the increased foliage of the PFA did not allow sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. And so, while the forests were beautiful, insufficient fodder was produced for the increased herd sizes. The key reason however was the expansion of maize croplands adjacent to the PFA. Since mid 1990s, the villagers have switched from shifting cultivation to permanent farming (Masuno and Ikeya, 2008). The villagers have depended on hybrid maize as their main source of cash income since the late 1990s. In the mid-1990s, alongside the steep increase in cattle herds there was a steep increase in lands opened for maize agriculture. There was no barrier between the PFA and the new croplands were destroyed by the excessive number of roaming and hungry cows. By the early 2000s most of villagers gave up keeping cattle. Many villagers did not want to make an effort to stop the feeding damage caused by the cattle, erecting fences for example. Thus they stopped keeping cattle and cultivated maize more intensively to get money. Most of villagers chose maize cultivation rather than cattle husbandry in order to make a profit. But cattle husbandry is still one of the important choices to make efficient use of PFA around the village. The villagers are still seeking solutions in maintaining ecologically and economically sustainable forests, croplands, and cattle production. Acknowledgements This research was carried out as part of the Research Institute for Human and Nature Project titled, A Trans-Disciplinary Study on the Regional Eco-History in Tropical Monsoon Asia: The field researches conducted in 2009 and 2010 were supported by JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No: , project 1617

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