IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: HILL TRIBES, ENVIRONMENTALISM,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CHIANG MAI 000109

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EAGR EAID ELAB SENV TH
SUBJECT: IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: HILL TRIBES, ENVIRONMENTALISM,
AND POLITICS

REF: A. CHIANG MAI 75 (NGOS ASSIST HILL TRIBES)

B. 08 CHIANG MAI 140 (RELOCATIONS HURT HILL TRIBES)

C. 08 CHIANG MAI 91 (REDUCED BURNING LESSENS POLLUTION)

D. CHIANG MAI 84 (GEM SMUGGLING)

E. 08 CHIANG MAI 114 (SMUGGLING OF BURMESE STONES)

F. 07 CHIANG MAI 131 (MIXED HMONG PROGRESS)

CHIANG MAI 00000109 001.2 OF 004


Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly.



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Summary and Comment

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1. (SBU) In northern Thailand, differing opinions of
environmental cause and effect have led to highly charged
debates about forest management policies, often pitting
"conservationists" against agriculturally-dependent ethnic hill
tribe minorities and their supporters. The Royal Forest
Department (RFD) has accused upland farmers of environmental
mismanagement- highlighting the detrimental effects of
"slash-and-burn" farming- and has implemented mechanisms
intended to restrict their use of forests and watersheds. This
cable, part one in a series on highland agriculture and land
tenure, will focus on the political ecology of forests in
northern Thailand.




2. (SBU) Comment: Land use policies in northern Thailand have
been framed in terms of environmental conservation, with
particular emphasis placed on the slowing of deforestation and
watershed degradation. However, the environmental merits of
some RTG policies, such as the establishment of plantation
forests and the promotion of input-intensive cash crop
agriculture, are questionable. Thus, "Qen" policies, which
demonize hill tribe farming techniques, have been used to
reinforce state control of upland areas and to displace
highlanders, some of whom are stateless and have little legal
recourse. There are, however, indications that the RFD has
begun to see the importance of including upland dwellers in
their environmental protection strategies. End Summary and
Comment.



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Geopolitics of Northern Thailand

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3. (SBU) In geopolitical terms, northern Thailand- and its many
ethnic hill tribe minorities- have been characterized by both
real and perceived communist sympathies during the Vietnam War.
More recently, northern Thailand has been politically important
because of its permeable borders with Laos and conflict-ridden
Burma. The porous nature of these borders, combined with the
relative inaccessibility of the highlands, has contributed to
illicit trade in opium, methamphetamines, and gems, as well as
to cross-border migration (both legal and illegal) (ref D and
E). As a result, highland people have often been viewed as
unruly liabilities for an otherwise stable state. Hill tribe
communities have also been seen as colorful tourist attractions,
but, to many ethnic Thais, hill tribe people are ethnically
distinct and not truly "Thai." The influx of highland
minorities from Burma in recent years has played into the RTG's
(Royal Thai Government) national security concerns regarding
illegal immigration and has contributed to the government's
reticence to grant citizenship to many hill tribe people.



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Ecological Importance of Northern Thailand

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4. (U) Northern Thailand also occupies an important ecological
niche in Southeast Asia, as the north's bucolic forests provide
many important ecosystem services for the rest of Thailand. The
headwaters of Thailand's primary river system, the Chao Phraya,
lie in the northern uplands, and these waters play an important

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role in irrigating Bangkok and the central plain. As such, any
degradation of the upland watersheds has an effect on the flow
of water to central Thailand's agricultural fields, factories,
and cities. The central plain's dependence on upland watersheds
has led to increased scrutiny of upland forests and those who
inhabit them. Part of Northern Thailand also forms a portion of
the Mekong River Basin; land use practices that impact
downstream water quality can have a negative effect on the
inland fisheries that provide livelihood and food security for
millions of Laotians, Cambodians and Vietnamese.




5. (U) Thailand's forested northern uplands house much of the
country's biodiversity, and logging and other methods of
deforestation are seen as direct threats to Thailand's natural
heritage and eco-tourist economy. While the RTG banned logging
in 1989 after decades of unsustainable logging, it is now moving
towards a policy of sustainable wood harvest coupled with a goal
of 40 percent forest cover. Illegal logging in poorly policed
border areas remains a problem. The agricultural techniques
used by northern Thailand's highland farmers, most notably
"slash-and-burn" farming, are often denounced by government
officials, environmentalists, and the media as inefficient,
wasteful, and destructive. As reported by post, provincial
governments have recently taken a more active role in reducing
crop burning (ref C). Since 2007, Chiang Mai province has
banned burning; enforcement, however, has been rather lax.




6. (U) Growing awareness of climate change has led to two-fold
criticisms of highland agricultural techniques.
"Slash-and-burn" farming is believed to destroy important carbon
sinks (e.g. forests) while simultaneously releasing
heat-trapping carbon into the atmosphere during the burning
process. In the last two years alone, there have been over 10
articles criticizing slash-and-burn farming published in "The
Nation," one of Thailand's leading English-language newspapers.



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Hilltribe Agriculture: Sustainable or Not?

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7. (U) Conflicting views about what is pejoratively called
"slash-and-burn" agriculture have also complicated efforts to
create sustainable forest management policies in the north. For
decades, international agencies, national governments, and
others have claimed that "slash-and-burn" techniques (also
called "shifting cultivation") cause forest loss, soil erosion,
sedimentation in the lowlands, an increase in global warming,
and other forms of ecological degradation. However, some
academics have told pol staff that highland farmers, especially
the Karen, have developed ecologically appropriate agricultural
practices well suited to the sustainable management of forest
resources.




8. (U) Traditionally, the Karen (and some other highland
farmers) practice rotational shifting cultivation where forest
vegetation is felled and burned in the dry season. Many farmers
and environmental scientists believe that burning foliage before
the onset of the rainy season releases nutrients into the soil
and serves as a pest management technique, reducing the need for
both fertilizer and pesticides. These cleared and burned fields
are cultivated for one or more years and then left to lie fallow
for several years, allowing for re-growth of forest species.
Hill tribe farmers carefully harvest crops from their cultivated
fields and wild species from their fallow fields. Post has been
told that farmers typically rotate through 8-20 plots of land,
cultivating one and letting the others lie fallow.




9. (U) In meetings with pol staff, proponents of rotational
shifting agriculture argue that this technique involves only
temporary use of forest lands, while permanent settlements with
fixed agricultural plots result in greater loss of species
diversity and forest vegetation. Others have also contended
that the fallow periods so integral to shifting cultivation
promote greater carbon sequestration and biodiversity
conservation than do permanent agricultural techniques. Fallow
periods can also stabilize soils and allow forest animals to
re-colonize previously cultivated areas.


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Environmental and Ethnic Conflict

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10. (U) Environmental conflicts in northern Thailand have also
taken on an ethnic dimension, as lowland farmers (primarily of
ethnic Thai descent),accuse upland farmers (many of whom are
hill tribe minorities) of contaminating water supplies and
causing erosion. However, distinctions are rarely this neat,
and "lowland" Thai farmers now outnumber their hill tribe
minority counterparts in the uplands.




11. (SBU) Popular conceptions of ethnic hill tribes have also
been used to reinforce or refute particular environmental
positions. The Karen have often been held up as conservators of
the natural environment, and their patterns of shifting
cultivation have been viewed as an environmentally friendly
alternative to commercial agriculture. As such, NGOs and
academics often highlight Karen practices when defending the
right of highlanders to manage forest resources. For example,
one American study abroad program based in northern Thailand
incorporates an in-depth examination of Karen farming techniques
into a course on local ecological knowledge. In the course, the
Karen are used as an example of an ethnic group which has
developed cultural adaptations well suited for forest
ecosystems.




12. (SBU) The Hmong, however, are often portrayed as upland
villains, a reputation gained, in part, because of their
association with opium cultivation and insurgency (ref F).
Academics have told pol staff that environmentalists have heaped
vitriol on the Hmong because of their use of pioneer shifting
cultivation. Unlike rotational shifting cultivation, pioneer
shifting cultivation involves the clearing and burning of virgin
forest plots. These plots are farmed intensively for just a few
years before diminishing soil fertility and increasing weed
infestation force the farmer to move on to a new virgin forest
plot. Farmers rarely, if ever, reutilize a previously farmed
plot.




13. (SBU) The Hmong have also been criticized for their
adoption of commercial agriculture. The production of cash
crops, such as cabbages or strawberries, usually requires more
intensive use of fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. These
agrochemicals can leach into water supplies, kill fish in river
systems, damage soils, and even hamper crop production if used
incorrectly. Although the Hmong were encouraged to produce
these cash crops (instead of opium) through the implementation
of alternative development programs, they have now been accused
of degrading natural environments.




14. (SBU) Although ethnic stereotypes portray the Karen as
forest conservators and the Hmong as forest villains, these
monolithic categories are not entirely accurate. Many Karen
produce cash crops using environmentally problematic farming
techniques and not all Hmong practice pioneer shifting
cultivation. True or not, ethnic stereotypes- some of which
characterize all hill tribe farmers as troublesome, backwards,
and destroyers of the fragile uplands- have been used as
justification for more stringent forest regulations. As such,
the RFD has tended to view forests as needing protection from
local people and has pursued policies which exclude highlanders
from the forests on which they depend. Indeed, the RFD has
relocated villages found within the boundaries of newly-declared
national parks and has arrested villagers for encroaching on
protected forests (ref B).




15. (SBU) In conversations with pol staff, several NGOs have
highlighted apparent contradictions in RFD policies. While
small scale upland farmers have been accused of encroaching on
national parks and protected forests, large tree and fruit
plantations have been established in the uplands as part of
larger reforestation strategies. The environmental science
surrounding tree and fruit plantations is fuzzy, and some
scientists claim that these plantations will not help the RFD
reach its environmental goals. Tree plantations are heavy users

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of water and may strain already fragile upland watersheds.
Environmental scientists also argue that some forms of
plantation forestry could increase erosion. Thus, it seems as
if political and economic factors play as large a role in RFD
policy decisions as do ecological goals.



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RFD Starting to Encourage Community Participation

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16. (U) There are signs that the RFD has realized that it does
not have the resources or manpower necessary to police all the
protected forests in Thailand and that excluding local people
from resource management undermines conservation goals. The RFD
has therefore looked for creative ways to educate communities
about sustainable forest use and to reward them for efforts
aimed at stemming deforestation. In 2008, the RFD launched the
"Love the Forest and the Community Program," an education
initiative and competition designed to encourage local villagers
to develop sustainable practices for forest use. The RFD, in
conjunction with the Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding
Company, will grant a trophy and a 200,000 baht (US$5,882) prize
to the community which develops the most systematic preservation
plan for their forests.




17. (U) Communities must consider the ecological, economic and
social aspects of their forest preservation plans. The Khao Wong
community forest in Chaiyaphum became the winner of the first
national contest in 2008 with a plan that decreases
deforestation by phasing out charcoal production. Currently,
there are over 7,300 community forests registered with the
program, and 700 community forests are expected to enter the
2009 competition.




18. (U) In Tak province, forest patrols are now joint
undertakings made up of forest rangers and villagers from local
Karen communities. The Eastern Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife
Sanctuary is home to seven Karen communities, and Karen
villagers help the patrols look for evidence of illegal logging,
hunting, or cattle-gazing. The forest patrols also report on
wildlife sightings. According to the chief of the Eastern
Thungyai Naresuan forest division, involvement of local
communities has made forest patrols more effective. Reports of
illegal activities have decreased; large animal sightings have
increased; and communication between forestry officials and
local communities has improved.




19. (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Bangkok.
ANDERSON