Evaluating the utility of protected area status and conservation legislation in tropical forest conservation using satellite data: a case study of the great hornbill in Thailand

Preserving wildlife and their environment from anthropogenic activities requires identification and establishment of protected areas, and monitoring of their long-term effects on wildlife and habitat. Tropical forests are one of the most at-risk habitats and many tropical species have become extinct recently due to human activity. It is imperative to monitor habitat in protected areas and without in order to identify strategies and legislative policies that optimize conservation outcomes. To this end, I quantified habitat fragmentation for the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, pre- and post-establishment, within and outside the protected area, from 1973, 1985, and 1992, to assess the effectiveness of the protected area status, established in 1978, and a national logging ban, established in 1989, in preserving and restoring hornbill habitat. The results demonstrate that the establishment of Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary did not decrease the rate of hornbill habitat fragmentation relative to areas outside the protected area. While the protected area had less fragmentation to begin with, protection status did not affect the rate of loss. Fragmentation increased significantly both inside and outside the protected area between the first and second time points (p < 0.05), after the protected area was first established. However, the national logging ban policy implemented in 1985 seems to have successfully halted the fragmentation of habitat within the protected area and surrounding unprotected areas, with all areas showing no significant change (p > 0.05). While not significant, the rate of fragmentation outside the protected area was greater. This suggests that the establishment of a protected area alone may not be sufficient to stop or reverse anthropogenic damage to endangered habitat and the species that utilize these environments. The incorporation of multiple strategies for management is likely needed to increase the ability of protected areas to preserve tropical forest species and habitats. The assessment of protected areas via satellite and ground-level data is an essential tool for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies and improving outcomes.

Tourism in Phipun District: From Dark to Dawn

This paper presents two tragic stories which provided great impacts, not only on the villagers’ way of life in Phipun District, Thailand, but also on Thai people and logging business worldwide. The samples were 24 participants including villagers, resort and restaurant owners, and entrepreneurs. Participatory Action Research was used as a paradigm. Interview and participant observation were utilized for data collection and qualitative content analysis was applied for data analysis. The findings revealed that the invasion of communist party to the area was considered as a miserable mass murder during 1968-1980. Furthermore, longitudinal deforestation made by the villagers and concessionaires led to a tragic flood in 1988. The event was marked as one of the worst natural disasters in Thailand that led to atotal logging ban nationwide in 1989. Now, two reservoirs have been built to replace the flooded areas. The spectacular mountain scenery of the two reservoirs and other national resources arenow used for tourism purposes. Using dark tourism to convey the setragic messages as a symbolic reminder of human mistakes to the outside world can contributeas lessons learned to all mankind.

Drivers of elephant tourism in Thailand.

This chapter details the development of elephant tourism in Thailand. Following a logging ban enacted by the government in 1989, in response to devastating floods and loss of life brought about by unsustainable logging practices, elephants used in logging and their mahouts suddenly found themselves unemployed. From positions of high esteem, some 2000 elephants and their mahouts were forced to resort to begging on the streets of Thailand, in order to survive. Seeing this as an opportunity, Thai entrepreneurs began to offer visits to old logging camps that had been turned into attractions for tourists, beginning the involvement of elephants in the tourism sector. The welfare of the elephants at this stage was at best a secondary concern for many of the camp owners and operators. The authors note however that this is now changing. Interestingly, for the elephants in Thailand, the improvements in their welfare resulted from the actions of travel trade associations such as ABTA (the Association of British Travel Agents), travel trade channel members, and specialist animal welfare and ethnic community NGOs.

Impact of Forest Logging Ban on the Welfare of Local Communities in Northeast China

Background and Objectives: In order to effectively protect and restore natural forest resources, the Chinese government banned logging in state-owned forests of northeast China in April 2015. This is an enormous change for people who live in that region, especially forestry workers and their families, who depend on state-owned forestry enterprises. Following the welfare changes in worker households in a timely manner is conducive to gaining a better understanding of the development status of state-owned forest areas, so as to provide a scientific basis for the government to formulate forest policies that will contribute to sustainable development. Materials and Methods: Using Sen’s theory of welfare measurement, we measured the change in welfare of forestry worker households based on an empirical research framework that measures the function and gap in welfare before and after the logging ban. Results: (1) The welfare of worker households changed due to the logging ban in terms of function; social security, dwelling conditions, and psychological conditions improved, whereas economic status and social opportunity declined. (2) The logging ban had different impacts on the welfare of forestry worker households depending on their livelihood. Low-income households solely dependent on forestry work or engaged in this work for diversified income were impacted most by the ban, while high-income households engaged in forestry as a major source of income or for complementary income were impacted less. (3) The logging ban seems to affect social welfare distribution: the proportion of households classified as low welfare increased, while that of high-welfare households decreased.

Perception of Forest Stakeholders on Logging Ban in Cross River State, Nigeria

The study examined the perception of forest stakeholders on the ban on logging in Cross River State, Nigeria. The research was carried out from October, 2014 to January, 2015. Data was collected through the administration of structured questionnaire to 351 respondents that were randomly selected from four forest stakeholders, including: forest communities, Forestry Commission staff, timber dealers and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on environment. One local government area was selected purposively, from each of the three senatorial districts of the state. Findings shows that majority (86.9 percent) of the respondents were males, in the age brackets of 30-50 years, while 8.5 percent were in the age brackets of 20-29 years of age. Most of the respondents (62.4 percent) had secondary education, while farming, civil service, trading and logging, constitute 81.8 percent of the respondents’ occupation. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents from forestry commission (100 percent), timber dealers (100 percent), forest communities (98.3 percent) and NGOs (96.2 percent) were aware of the ban on logging. Most of the respondents from forestry commission (42.3 percent), timber dealers (41.4 percent), forest communities (45.0 percent) and NGOs (38.5 percent) agreed that the reason behind the ban on logging was to protect and conserve the State’s remaining forests. Findings revealed that the ban on logging did not reduce timber exploitation as claimed by 65.4, 74.3, 55.5 and 61.5 percent of the respondents from forestry commission, timber dealers, forest communities and NGOs respectively. Furthermore, 65.4, 95.7, 87.8 and 53.8 percent of the respondents from the stakeholders affirmed that prices of sawn wood increased during ban. Result also indicated that there was a significant increase (P< 0.05) in the prices of sawn wood during the ban. Majority (96.2, 61.4, 86.9 and 61.5 percent) of the respondents attested that some people who depend on logging activities, lost their means of livelihoods and majority (92.3, 85.7, 91.3 and 96.2 percent) of the respondents agreed that taskforce members were corrupt. Again, majority of the respondents from forestry commission (69.2 percent), timber dealers (90.0 percent) and forest communities (59.0 percent) agreed that they want the ban on logging lifted.

Asymmetric Price Transmission of Hardwood Lumber Imported by China after Imposition of the Comprehensive Commercial Logging Ban in All Natural Forests

The Comprehensive Commercial Logging Ban in All Natural Forests (CCLB) policy, introduced in April 2015, aims to protect all natural forests in China. It has impacted both China’s domestic timber supply and imports. We investigated price transmission in China’s hardwood lumber imports resulting from the implementation of this policy. We selected three hardwood lumber species, i.e., Sapelli (Entandrophragma), Mandshurica (Fraxinus), and Laurel (Terminalia), and used their daily prices from 30 April 2015 to 30 November 2017. Threshold co-integration and threshold error correction models are employed for this analysis. We identified a structural breakpoint on 30 November 2016, and consequently partitioned the data series into two parts for the two subperiods separated by the breakpoint. The empirical results indicated that there was asymmetric price transmission (APT) for both subperiods. Adjustment of positive price deviations to the long-term equilibrium levels was slower than that of negative price deviations. In the short term, the price of high-quality lumber evolved independently, whereas the price of lower-quality lumber tended to return to the equilibrium. The APT reflects a redistribution of welfare, benefiting the exporters more than the importers. We find that positive discrepancies in each price pair were inclined to be more persistent in the first subperiod than in the second subperiod. This could attribute to the fact that the degree of CCLB intervention in the former one was higher than in the latter one.