A small matter but crucial, shouldn't be overlooked
Ref: "Mae Wong dam EHIA 'deeply flawed'", National, November 8.
The environmental groups’ discovery that the park is full of wildlife, including rare species and tigers, emphasises even more that the environmental health impact assessment for the Mae Wong dam is mistaken.
Once, dam supporters satirised the environmental groups as more concerned about tigers than people.
There is an example of how wolves change rivers – the “Wolves released back to nature” project of Yellowstone National Park in the US – where they help control the population of secondary predators and hoofed animals in proper amounts with a natural balance.
They could also cause riverbanks to be less eroded and make more islets in rivers. The riverside vegetation turns to holding the soil surface and the food chain is back to abundance.
In Thailand, how do tigers change forests? The answer would be similar. If forests have no more tigers, what will we take to control the number of secondary predators and herbivores and would forests be abundant? What will help balance the amount of water?
Perhaps we should not overlook a small thing if it is crucial, like small reservoirs in any areas that can substitute for a large dam in forests, and they can provide better results and not make the water management of the country damaged.
Sutipunt Bongsununt
Kanchanaburi
