Forest reclamation faces bigger battle

LAND RIGHTS networks have called for a halt to forest-reclamation operations on land cultivated by small rubber tappers and for a committee to be formed to prove ownership rights to the land.

The Royal Forest Department insists that its reclamation operation mainly targets those encroaching on at least 30 rai (4.8 hectares) of forestland.

On Tuesday, the Rak Theugkhao Bantad Community Network, Trang’s Land Dispute Solving Network, Trang Community Council and the Southern Community Network submitted a petition to Trang’s governor expressing concern over the recent move by the government to regain forestland by clearing rubber plantations on the land.

The petition seeks a delay in the removal of the rubber plantations of small cultivators in Trang’s Bantad Mountain area and the formation of a committee made up of local people, local authorities, farmers and the council of community organisations to confirm land rights together.

This follows the reaction from small rubber farmers to the official forest-reclamation policy, which concentrates on clearing out rubber plantations in forest preserves.

The Forestry Department has set a target to reclaim 400,000 rai of rubber plantations this year, while the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department’s goal is to recover 200,000 rai, making the total land gain 600,000 rai.

The Forestry Department has also claimed that of the 5.5 million rai of rubber plantations on forestland, 1.5 million rai is owned by wealthy land encroachers.

Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, director-general of the Forestry Department, emphasised that all of the rubber plantations designated to be cut down were plots that the case was already done and owned by wealthy outsiders, not those owned by local farmers.

“All of the rubber plantations we have cut down had clear evidence of forest intrusion. In this case our actions were legitimate according to the preserved-forest law. We also avoided fierce action on the small rubber tappers,” he said.

Authorities are using scientific methods to prove whether the disputed rubber plantations occupied restricted forestland, such as aerial photographs to see how the land was used in the past, he said.

 

‘Focus is on larger plantations’

“We are focusing on the big rubber plantations, larger than 30-50 rai, where the owners are not locals. After we identified that the plantations encroached the forest, we notified the owners to declare their land-rights documents and proceed to court. 

“If they are instructed by the court to clear the land they must do so or we will do the job at their expense,” he said. 

“However, most of the rubber plantations we have cut down did not have anyone claiming ownership, so we had to clear the land after 30 days.” 

The recovered parcels of land will be reforested if they are close to the natural forest or may be converted into a community plot for landless people and a community forest.

Even though authorities insist that they are focusing on the big players, there are many cases of rubber plantations of poor farmers getting destroyed by the officers.

For example, 11 families in Krabi suddenly lost their only source of income as officers cut down their rubber trees on 181 rai last year, according to the People’s Movement for a Just Society.

Surachai Trongngam, secretary-general of the EnlawThai Foundation, said that even if the officers had legitimate rights to clear the rubber plantations in the forest preserves, the victims could sue the officers through the Administrative Court if they found that the officers overdid their duty.