Project Narrative

The Thamma Rakhsa project (which means “nature is a remedy”) gathers different initiatives of cooperatives, villages, monasteries, schools and associations who spontaneously asked to join the project. It is fully part of the already existing culture of preserving the community forests throughout rural Thailand.Supporting small-scale farmers is the priority of the project, from the highest peaks of northern Thailand in the Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai regions, down to the coastal low lands of the southern provinces of Krabi. The Dhamma Rakhsa project aims at planting trees and mangroves, with a strong focus in the poorest north eastern regions of Thailand on the Isan plateau, by developing agroforestry models with very disadvantaged rice farmers. CONTEXT In rural areas of Thailand, there is a strong tradition in community forest conservation. Every village has a small wooded area which is traditionally used for local harvesting, but also for maintenance. These areas are now very small, mainly located on hillsides, where valleys have been entirely deforested for crop production such as rice.The villagers, organized in committees, plan and participate spontaneously or with the Royal Family or the Government’s help in activities such as planting, soil maintenance and fire protection cuts or in the blessing of trees, with the monks’ help, in order to protect their community forest. The help provided by PUR Projet therefore lies within the protection of a culture of community forests, very present in every rural area of Thailand.