Saving the world one tree at a time

Doi Luang, in Chiang Dao district in Chiang Mai province, is a well-known destination among trekkers and campers who go a day's hike up the mountain for an enchanting view. The Chiang Dao mountain is a watershed area and essential source of the Ping River, which flows into the Chao Phraya. The area is also home to a number of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, but most of them are unrecognisable at first sight. This is because vegetable and corn farmers, especially where there is road access, have heavily surrounded much of the protected land.

Much of the vast cultivated land teeming with cabbages, chilli and other vegetables, equipped with modern irrigation system fed by a feeble source of the Ping River, is in fact protected forests. After each harvest, the leftover is burnt, causing widespread wildfires every summer. And since there are no systematic fire protection zones around these cultivated lands, fires spread into more young parts of the forests where native trees still grow. Trees are soon destroyed, leaving a straight route for any water flowing down the mountain to cause landslides.

Nikom Putta, co-ordinator of Ping Watershed Conservation Project and a respected conservationist who had worked on the reforestation project in Khao Paeng Ma in Prachin Buri, decided that he needed to do something in Chiang Dao. Nikom, also a former forest park officer, has teamed up with Big Trees Project, an environmental volunteer group based in Bangkok. Nikom and local villagers are responsible for finding a degraded forest area and obtaining permission from authorities. Big Trees Project, meanwhile, is responsible for raising funds and recruiting volunteers to help plant the trees.

In order for the reforested land to be sustainable, the project needs to be in operation for at least three years. So every June, on the occasion of World Environment Day, money is raised through crowdfunding on social media, covering the budget for each planting activity. For 2017, the campaign managed to raise 140,000 baht. Meanwhile hundreds of volunteers including local farmers from nearby villages, various groups of students, professors and volunteers all came together last month to help restore what used to be a pristine watershed forest, a necessary part of the Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary.

"This is an opportunity to help forests become more sustainable and to increase the density of the forest," said Nikom. "It's hard to find any reforestation project that allows the public to help replant protected areas. To have adults and kids from local communities and elsewhere work together for this special cause allows different learning opportunities for both."

Approximately 400 people work together to help support the Chiang Dao Restoration Project over the course of three years as different activities must be carried out to help ensure the sustainability of the forest. In June every year the main goal was to plant from saplings of native trees. In August, volunteers help pull out unwanted weeds and grass that fight with the young saplings for nutrients and sunlight. During February to March, they work on fire protection zones to prohibit any outside wildfires from spreading into the newly planted areas. Throughout May, the area is watched to safeguard any possible forest fires. Coming back to June, trees are planted again. Around 10,000 trees are planted every year, including teak and Ficus trees. In addition, seeds from fruits such as figs and mangoes, which serve as food trees for wild animals, are also planted.

Early last month, Ping Watershed Conservation Project and Big Trees Project led a group of 400 volunteers to plant trees in areas where they had been cut down. At Chiang Dao Youth camp, Nikom explained to the volunteers the techniques of planting trees to guarantee that they would grow healthy and properly. It included information about how deep the hole should be dug, at what angle that plant should be placed (straight up towards the sky), and after covering the plant with dirt, make sure to step on the area around it so the dirt is compacted around the base of the plant. According to Nikom's observations, about 80% of last year's trees were able to survive and thrive beautifully.

The local villagers from the area brought their tools to help, as well as different students from schools around Chiang Dao. It was an extremely hot day, with little to no wind and high humidity, but the turnout was huge and everyone was committed to their task: to bring trees and abundance back to Chiang Dao.

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About the writer: Riley T is 15 years old and one of the volunteers in the project.