Background
Thailand has a comparatively small area of peatland. It is less than 0.15% of the total land area of the countryand are found in certain areas in the southern provinces.
Peatland has unique featurs and benefits provided directly or indirectly to th country as a whole and to the people living around the peatlands in particular. These environmentally invaluable areas have become the focus of endavours among the private and public sector in the conservation and management to obtain optimal benfits. This is reflected in the efforts of successive governments in the designation of peatlands along with virgin forests and those deemed potentially restorable as reserve areas. As a consequence an area of 200 sq. km of Pru Toh Daeng, a peat swamp in Narathiwat province, has been declared a wildlife sanctuary area.
Operation units have been assigned to these areas and strict laws have been introduced against encroachers. Degraded peatlands have been converted to land settlement cooperatives, where plots of land were distributed to the landless villagers for engaging in agricultural purposes, e.g. oil palm cultivation.
In addition, the government has also set up task forces for controlling and preventing forest fires. A Royal Initiated Project for research and development of peatland was established to ensure that peatland, or ‘Phru’ in Thai, is maintained and survived.
Distribution and Status of Peatlands in Thailand
Peatlands are found mostly in the southern part of Thailand, particularly in Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Phatthalung, Trang and Surat Thani. A few of them are found in the east, in the province of Trat, and in the central, such as Lopburi. However, extensive surveys have not yet been made to determine the exact area of peatlands in Thailand. The definition of peatland has not yet been agreed upon and defined in the same standard, thus making the outcomes of the studies to differ in terms of figures and statistics.
As for the status of peatlands in Thailand, it is found that peatland is covered with primary forests with more than 470 species, some of which are as tall as 40 metres. This type of peatland, normally constituting the peat layer of 3.5 metres in thickness and 1-2 metres beneath the surface, is approximately 700-800 years old, and covering an area of 8,000 ha. Peatlands with thick forest have been subject to serious fires, which cause much damage and the loss of the original plant species. As a result, the original sepcies have been replaced with weeds and budding plant species.
Frequent forest fires have caused the peat to vanish or remain very little and the affected areas became open land, part of which have been encroached upon by settlers.
Value of Peatlands in Thailand
| Direct Uses | 1. Large fishing grounds for villagers 2. Collecting wild fruits, such as rambutan, or wild mango; the fruit serves either for personal consumption or making income by selling it 3. Collecting Sago palm leaves and gathering larvae from the tree trunks 4. Collecting wild natural honey 5. Collecting mushrooms, especially Melaleuca mushrooms 6. Leaves for creating flower decorations 7. Leaves of Nepholepis radicans and other species for cooking 8. Leaves of Licuala sp. for wrapping food 9. Grounds for collecting ornamental fish 10. Source of firewood, processed timber and trees for general purposes 11. Source of organic soils used for growing seedlings 12. Cultivation plot for plants like palm oil 13. Source of rare medicinal plants 14. Large water retention area used for irrigation or household use 15. Source of seeds 16. Source of fragrant flowering plants, ornamental plants and rare, valuable plants 17. Animal raising area 18. Source of rattan and other plants for making basketry |
| Indirect Uses | 1. Breeding ground and habitation of wildlife species 2. Serving as large storage area of carbon to regulate global ecology 3. Source of conservation sites for flora and fauna genes 4. Serving as a large water intake and flood prevention 5. Minimizing the impact of strong winds 6. Field for study and research 7. Attraction for eco-tourism |
Threats faced by Peatlands in Thailand
Lack of basic information and knowldge about peatland
The lack of accurate information about the peatland is the basic problem that must be tackled. The data obtained is inevitable for peatland management. For the moment the only agency that is activly engaged in the collection of information is the Centre of Research and Study on Nature of Shirindhorn Peat Swamp Forest. However, the centre’s activity is restricted to the area of Phru Toe Daeng, Narathiwat. Not much study has been made in other peatland areas.
Forest fires
Like elsewhere, peat forests in Thailand are also seriously damaged by occassional forest fires. To tackle the problem, the government has set up forest fire control units in each province. Special support is given to those areas/provinces that are the most prone to forest fires. The main target is to keep the water level high and stable. As a result, forest fire management can be described as succesful to a certain extent. However, due to limited budget and manpower, coupled with the intentional burning of the bushes by encroachers and hunters as well as unintentional accidents, forest fires occur frequently in the dry season.
Conflicts of interest in the utilization of peatlands
Peatlands satisfy the needs of their residents in various forms and it is often found that the objective of each group of residents associated to peatlands seems to differ.The government agency responsible for conservation and protection of the environment would want to maintain the area for conservation purposes. In contrast, several agencies responsible for development, including the majority of the people, want to see the peatland converted into an area for farming and other purposes. Proper zoning of peatland areas in line with group objctives could be the way out solving these problems.
Difficulty in restoration
The deposit of peat until becoming thick layers is a long process but damage and loss caused by forest fires does not take much time. Replacement of damaged plant species is also complicated due to high water levels, fast growing of weeds and difficulty of site preparation for reforestation.
Acidic and low nutrient soil
Peatlands in Thailand have been derived from mangrove forests with large content of mud and strong acidic elements underneath. This is the main obstacle for the management in peatland areas in conversion to farming purposes.
Illegal felling of trees
Villagers often fell Melaleuca cajuputi for making charcoal or cunstruction support.
Drainage
Conversion of peatland into farming area always requires drainage. Unregulated drainage often makes the peatland become dry and susceptible to severe forest fires. In certain areas drainage accelerates the ecological conversion of the peat.
