Pa Leaw Luang Sub-district, Santisook District, Nan province is a home to 4,485 people living in 10 communities in the overall sub-district areas of around 10,500 hectares including residential areas in the political boundary and natural forests inside and beyond the borders. Most of the people living in this area is hilltribe people (Lue ethnic group). 85% of the landscape is high and steep mountain, which is about 600-1,200-meter above the sea level. In the past 15 years, lowland areas nearby the steep mountain have been converted to monoculture plantation for maize and rubber trees and encroach further to higher mountain areas. Land use conversion causes landslides, flash flood and drought, which cause economic and livelihood loss severely in each year. Ongoing deforestation in this area causes soil erosion, unhealthy land, loss of biodiversity and malfunction of ecosystem services, which eventually affect the livelihood security of local community members.

Landless local people in Pa Leaw Luang sub-district illegally used some parts of the Tham Sakern National Park areas for agricultural plantation. Most of local people in this sub-district do not have any legal land titles, therefore their illegal agricultural lands were taken back regarding to the re-claim land policy endorsed by the government in 2014. Many of them are still in conflict with the government agencies and the land occupancy is not yet resolved in this area. Several organizations have initiated many projects to stop forest encroachment for agricultural land and introduced different livelihood initiatives, however many of those projects have not comprehensively addressed land needs and livelihood diversification to stop deforestation. In 2019, Pa Leaw Luang model has been developed in responding to the master plan of “Nan Model”, which was initiated in 2009, to solve deforestation problem. Pa Leaw Luang model composes of the forest restoration and livelihood development activities initiated by Community Organization Development Institute and Royal Forestry Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. There are opportunities to collaborate with all related stakeholders through this ongoing project (Pa Leaw Luang Model) to improve forest recovery, including livelihood options for local people. It is important to have a long-term strategic forest restoration, monitoring and evaluation for forest recovery collectively designed at the sub-district level in collaboration with all related stakeholders. There is a need to improve people’s livelihoods, empowering people to diversify sources of incomes from sustainable practices of agriculture, as well as raising awareness on sustainable land and forest management for better land and forest productivity and livelihood improvement.

The project aims to restore healthy and productive landscapes through improvement of livelihood and forest restoration as the key elements for improved sustainable land and forest management. The project will develop Sustainable Land Management (SLM) interventions addressing land and ecosystem restoration within identified demonstration sites considered as ‘hotspots’ or mostly affected by land degradation, loss of biodiversity and impacts of climate change in the target areas. The SLM interventions entails capacity building, scaling up and mainstreaming climate smart and innovative SLM practices/ forest management practices and technologies that will be identified by farmers and land users at the landscape areas. The project will increase awareness of stakeholders and facilitate engagement of local farmers, land users at the landscape levels to improve understanding of land degradation, sustainable forest management and impacts of climate change in the target areas, changes in biodiversity, productivity, effective provision of ecosystem services and sustainable land management practices that can be scaled up.

The project responds to the implementation of LDN’s targets at local level, Thailand’s international commitments to the Climate Change Treaty and the Conventions on Biodiversity and Combatting Desertification (CCD). The project will develop a pilot model of sustainable land management and integrated forest management at the local level, which focuses on implementation of measures in responding to the targets of National Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), and address the raising concerns of greenhouse gas emission from agricultural and forestry sectors. Eventually, the project results will contribute to the achievement of already negotiated national targets of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Biodiversity Convention, when the model is replicated in other prioritized degraded areas in Thailand.

Vast array of agricultural lands in Thailand are in varying states of degradation. Of the 29.12 million ha of agricultural land, the Land Development Department estimates that 56.8% of the country’s terrestrial areas is classified as ‘degraded’ (LDD strategy 2017-2021, Sep 2016). The northern region is particularly at risk from land degradation, each with their own combination of drivers. Soil erosion is a widespread environmental challenge across Thailand, with 21.52 million ha of agricultural land considered as ‘highly vulnerable’ to soil erosion impacts in the absence of adequate soil conservation measures (LDD strategy 2017-2021, Sep 2016). This is a particular challenge in the northern region of Thailand, with its steeper slopes and high rainfall. Soil degradation also is defined as a change in the soil health status resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. Agroforestry or integrated forest management are an integrated approach using of trees in farming systems to the deliberate growth and management of trees along with agricultural crops and/or livestock in systems that are ecologically, socially and economically sustainable. Both farmers and scientists should test and validate the aims, potential and positive interactions among both socioeconomic and ecological components. Some important aims of agroforestry are increased productivity/income and improved equity in benefit-sharing sustainable land management.

Impacts of climate change and disaster risks in Thailand are reportedly more frequent and extreme, affecting the sustainability of agricultural, forestry and food production. This requires a focus on developing sustainable agricultural systems through, for example, agriculture diversification, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, Climate Smart Agriculture such as soil conservation, integrated cropping and agroforestry, and Good Agricultural Practices.  In order to maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals and their related wildlife species, the gene, sperm and seed banks should be established at the national and local levels.

Pa Leaw Luang Sub-district locates in Santisook District, Nan province in the areas of 10,500 hectares in the political boundary of the sub-district. It consists of ten communities, which home to 4,485 people. Majority of local people here is Tai-Lue ethnic group. 85% of the landscape is the highland, 600-1200 meters above the sea level, especially on the East and West of the sub-district. There are two tributaries, Muab and Yang River run through the central plain of the sub-district. Agricultural activities are the major drives of land use conversion mainly at the slope areas. 6,954 hectares of forests were removed drastically and converted to agricultural plantation in Pa Leaw Luang Sub-district.  Maize and rubber plantation were promoted by the Thai government agencies and fully implemented by local farmers during 1997-2012. Agricultural area had been extended to the preserved forests and the protected areas, which caused the massive disasters in this area; for example, flash flood and land slide during the monsoon season. Soil quality has been degraded due to heavy use of chemical fertilizer; pesticide and herbicide, as well as the long-term monoculture in the areas. Alluvium transportation and landslide caused shallow rivers and affects socioeconomic activities of locals already. Meanwhile, local people experience drought and water scarcity in dry season for their daily consumption and agricultural plantation.

Pa Leaw Luang Sub-district was one of the strategic areas of the Communist movement in Thailand. In the past, there was no forest plantation along the street in Santisook district in the deep distance of 1.5 kilometers from the main street. After the political unrest was settled, the Thai government started the socioeconomic and agriculture for livelihood development in this area. In 2002, The Thai government promoted maize and rubber plantation. Forests had been drastically removed for monoculture plantation. The agricultural land encroachment consistently expanded and resulted in land degradation due to the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide. It caused the loss of watershed areas, drought, flash flood and landslides. In addition, Nan Model was initiated in 2009 by the Community Organization Development Institute and Pid Thong Lang Pra Foundation, which aims to use this model as a master plan to improve livelihood of local people especially agricultural practices. Until 2014, the Thai government started to implement the re-claim forest policy all over the country and Santisook district has been prioritized as one of the restoration models. Pa Leaw Luang Model is being developed by Royal Forestry Department in responding to the forest restoration and land reform policy.

Royal Forestry Department (RFD) developed and implements the restoration plan for Santisook district as a part of the umbrella project of “Nan Model”, which has jointly designed and invested by different stakeholders. There are several non-profit organizations, research institutions, private sectors, local authorities and the government agencies invested in forest replantation in the past ten years. Pa Leaw Luang Model consists of land zonation and strategic plan to restore each zone designed by RFD. The designated zones consist of 1) natural forests, 2) re-claimed forestlands, 3) the encroached 1^st and 2^nd classification of watershed, and 4) the encroached 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th classification of watershed. However, the degraded areas are very large and require consistent efforts and investment in a long term from all related holders based on the strategic restoration plan. The comprehensive monitoring plan for the restored areas is needed. Local people engaged in the replantation activities by planting and preparing the areas only. There is a need to apply the participatory process of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), and participatory monitoring and evaluation plan in the restored areas in this sub-district. In addition, capacity building approaches for socioeconomic livelihood alternatives based on their biodiversity capitals and forest restoration methodologies to these communities are needed as well.

The Thai government realizes and prioritizes land need issues of landless farmers. The National Land Reform policy and the National Land Policy Committee are established by the Thai government to manage the degraded lands and local people who are in needs of the lands. Land zonation, community land deeds, integrated agriculture promotion, community development plan, and water resource development for agriculture are the key elements of this forest and land restoration model. The Royal Forestry Department has zone designation based on the location of the forests, ecological function and utilization of local people in a long run. Forest restoration in the watershed areas, establishment of forest restoration center, conservation and protection to the natural intact forest, establish of community forest, land right allocation for landless people after the land has been restored, economic forest, community nursery and CCTV installation and connection through the satellite for monitoring the forest recovery. However, there is a need to review the plan and identify the success, challenges and gaps in restoring the forests in this target area as planned, as well as increasing level of people engagement in monitoring and evaluation of the restoration activities led by the Thai government agencies. Scientific knowledge on monitoring flora and fauna species recovery in the target restored areas will be introduced to local people with simplified tools and methodologies for them to monitor the target areas. It is important to ensure that long term strategic restoration plan developed for this area will support local community’s socioeconomic needs and other adaptive land use requirements in the future.

According to livelihood improvement on agricultural related activities and other alternatives, although there are several projects led and supported by the government agencies and NGOs, the improvement of the supply chain, production plan, market plans, technical knowledge improvement of the farmers, adaptation and mitigation plan in responding to impacts of climate change are required for those farmers in the target areas. The agricultural practices, at the present, are heavily depending on monoculture (maize and rubber plantation) and conventional methods of farming by applying chemical fertilizer, slash and burn to clear the land. The negative consequences of these unsustainable practices will potentially lead to forest encroachment for seeking more fertile lands. Therefore, introducing options for more environmentally friendly agricultural practices with practical market strategic plans to promote their products, diversification of non-agriculture related livelihoods is needed to lessen the pressures on land use for agriculture and forests, as well as ensuring alternative sources of income for local communities.

In addition, the AFoCO project (AFoCO/009/2015) titled “Developing High Valuable Species in Viet Nam & Thailand as a Mechanism for Sustainable Forest Management & Livelihood Improvement for Local Communities”, which was implemented in Nan and Loei province in 2016-2019 could be replicated and scaled up in Pa Leaw Luang sub-district, Nan province as well. The most applicable approach of this project is the use of high value species; Bamboo as a pilot species to develop market strategic plans, capacity building program for local people in bamboo farming and having bamboo processing products, along with sustainable forest management and agroforestry in the target areas. Royal Forestry Department as the implementing agency of the project and Land Development Department will be able to share lessons learned and transfer knowledge from this successful project to the newly proposed one in 2021. Bamboo, high value hard timber and rice will be one of the agricultural species that Royal Forestry Department, Land Development Department and other implementing partners in the target areas could jointly promote among the local communities.

Objective 1: To increase forest coverage in the target areas through restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forest or degraded land by applying Restoration Opportunity Assessment Methodology and Forest Landscape Restoration.

Objective 2: To promote sustainable land management in agricultural sector and to develop a sustainable land use model to halt land degradation among beneficiaries in the target areas.

Objective 3: To enhance capacity and engagement of local people, local authorities and relevant stakeholders in sustainable agriculture, sustainable land management and sustainable forest management.