Community planting new hope on a bare mountain

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Residents from six villages near a gold mine in Thailand’s Loei province came together for a tree-planting event earlier this week, in an effort to restore life to a mountain ravaged by gold mining. A community-based group called Khon Rak Ban Kerd (People Who Love Their Hometown), along with international students from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, school children and teachers from Ban Huai Phuk School and the head of the Khao Luang Sub-district Administration Organisation collaborated to revive the once-thriving ecosystem on the mountain and heal the scars left by mining.

 

The “Reforesting the Mountain for Sustainable Life” project aims to restore the nature and the environment of the community and raise awareness about the importance of environmental conservation. Nature lovers were brought together at the abandoned gold mine in Phu Sam Pha Bon and surrounding area. They planted more than 5,000 indigenous tree species and collected an additional 10,000 seeds of local tree species gathered by the villagers.

 

“I feel like the long-awaited day has finally come,” said Ranong Kongsaen, a 61-year-old member of Khon Rak Ban Kerd group. She emphasised that this activity has been eagerly anticipated by the villagers, who experienced judicial harassment in their lawsuit against the mine and were involved in more than 27 court cases. Their demands were the closure of the mine and the restoration of the environment in the area. In the five years since the court ruled in their favour, no environmental restoration efforts have been initiated.

 

Caption: Photo by Roengrit Kongmuang

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/community-planting-new-hope-on-a-bare-mountain/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2023-06-15

 

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