Restoration of Nan ecology badly needed: Banthoon

In an interview yesterday with Suthichai Yoon, adviser to Nation Multimedia Group’s editorial board, Banthoon, who is chairman and CEO of Kasikornbank, said more than 28 per cent of Nan’s forest reserves had been destroyed after villagers grabbed the land to grow commercial crops, especially corn.

For decades, residents in the Northern province have been restricted by the |forest reserve law, which covers as much as 85 per cent of the province. This made it hard for farmers to make a living without encroaching on protected forests.

The prime minister should consider tackling the problem in Nan before it is too late, since forests in the province were crucial to the sustainability of water resources for the Chao Phraya River, which flows through the central plain, the country’s agriculture heartland, he said.

The government should consider launching a pilot project to solve problems on an integrated basis and issue an executive order to stop the cutting down of all trees in forest reserves. 

Villagers also needed jobs so that they don’t have to earn a living from planting cash crops on forestland, he said.

Over the past 10 years, Nan’s forests had continued to be destroyed and eventually the negative impacts would hit water resources of the Chao Phya, Banthoon said.

For example, farmland in Central provinces would be exposed to salinity, making it unsuitable for planting rice and other crops if there was not enough freshwater to prevent seawater from leaching into agricultural resources.

Nan has a population of about 500,000 and their ancestors owned the land long before the central government enacted the forest reserve law to cover most of the province, Banthoon said.

That was why residents in the province had resorted to using forest areas to raise crops for agricultural conglomerates, he said.