Villagers Fought for Their Ancestral Forest – and Won!

Discontent with the government of Thailand’s proposal to infill their wetland, the villagers of Ban Boon Rueang launched advocacy and social media campaigns to showcase how vital their forest is to the local ecosystem – and their efforts paid off! 

“Convincing the government to conserve the wetland forest was a momentous achievement, made through advocacy and dialogue,” says David Ganz, executive director of RECOFTC, the Center for People and Forests. “Boon Rueang is a successful model for community forestry and showcases a nature-based solution to environmental injustice. The community’s achievement is an inspiration to others who may be facing similar challenges.”

To prevent the government’s plan on transforming the 236-hectare wetland forest into a Special Economic Zone, the villagers set up a conservation group, got support from other conservation groups and academics from the local university, and appealed to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, pleading that their livelihoods and their lives were at stake. “This forest has a history of hundreds of years. I am very pleased that the Boon Rueang community has preserved and taken care of the forest,” says Niwat Roikaew, head of the Chiang Khong Conservation Group, who backed the Boon Rueang campaign.