FACULTY OF LAW HOLDS A MEETING ON “DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO LAW AND THE ENVIRONMENTAND GETTING PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION” WITH DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROMOTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROMOTION ASSOCIATION AT THE ROYAL PATRONAGE – UPPER HUAY NAM THON DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, PHRA BUDDHABAT SUB-DISTRICT, SRI CHIANGMAI DISTRICT, NONGKHAI
December 12, 2019 – Faculty of Law held a meeting on “Developing Knowledge Related to Law and the Environment and Getting People’s Participation” เมื่อวันที่ 12 ธันวาคม 2562 at the Royal Patronage – Upper Huay Nam Thon Development Project, Phra Budddhabat Sub-district, Sri Chiangmai District, Nongkhai. Both lecturers and students joined in educating community people about law and learned about forest and land policies, especially the Community Forest Act 2019. The lecturers and students also listened to the community problems in management of community forest.
The morning session was on discussion of “People’s participation in management of natural resources and the environment in the Me Kong basin”. Guest speakers include academicians from the governmental sector and social community. The essence of the discussion was on building of understanding of cultural ecology in the Me Kong basin which should be kept in balance and the utilization of which should be sustainable. Moreover, land problems and forest resource management should be solved according to the national park law, fauna protection law, the new forest community law, community forest establishment procedures, benefits for people, and the practices and power related to community rights according to Community Forest Act 2019.
The afternoon session featured small group discussion to exchange experiences related to community forest conservation among 15 villages in 4 sub-districts. The topics discussed were on the lessons learned and experiences in conservation of community forests, community forest management plan, and suggestions. It was found that the communities had no rights on subsistence land and hence could not access funding sources or public assistance as well as overlapping of community forest areas. The suggestions made included: community’s plans on the whole community forest management plans, rights over the planted trees, laying of clear boundaries between conserved forest areas and subsistence land, building of multiplicity and fertility of forest communities, management of the forest so that it becomes a learning resource and ecological tourism spots, and provision of equipment and tools to support management and maintenance of community forests together with development of skills and knowledge among community forest committee members.
Faculty of Law entered the area under the mission in academic service, which emphasizes Creating Shared Value (CSV) and building of learning resources for the students so that they develop Social Engagement vision. The faculty links the learning between the university and the community through the Co-Creation approach for the students to learn social facts and equity so that they will be able to tackle social problems under the law dimension.
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