Mangrove forest encroachment now on suppression list under the junta’s returning forest to the peopl

[Lite Beer]

Mangrove forest encroachment now on suppression list under the junta’s returning forest to the people

BANGKOK: -- The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s policy to return forest to the people is making headway as relevant government agencies are now back in action to implement the policy strictly.

The latest action taken was the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) which is now checking on mangrove forests in all coastal provinces to see how much areas have been encroached and occupied for personal interest,

The department yesterday despatched personnel to take back encroached mangrove forests in Rayong province which have been turned into shrimp farms.

The mission was undertaken by a combined force of staff from Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), Royal Forest Department, Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Internal Security Operations Command, and the police.

They inspected a number a shrimp farm in Nearn Kor sub-district, Klang district in Rayong province which revealed they had been established within protected mangrove forests.

An aerial inspection of the area revealed that part of the shrimp farm is within the protected mangrove forest. It seems that the shrimp farm was established in 1990 during the shrimp export boom.

The owner of the farm is a local businessman who holds a number land titles and deeds for seven plots of which over 150 rai is within the protected mangrove forest. The ownership title also covers more than 500 rai of mangrove areas where dikes have been put up to keep the sea at bay. The area right next to the farm is a mangrove which shows evidence of it being developed for farming.

According to Ms Cholthit Surasawasdi, director general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, there are about 500,000 rai of suspected encroachment areas which have now been occupied.

But authorities have inspected these areas and found that about 300,000 rai areas where owners do hold land title deeds.

Under the NCPO’s instructions, authorities will prioritize investigations on those titles that were issued before the protected areas were declared.

Only one of three mangrove areas that have encroached into protected areas. The special investigative team of the DMCR and other relevant agencies have advised farm owners in the area of their crime and the government’s intent to reclaim the encroached areas.

Criminal charges will be filed against two other farm owners in the area.

The two other farms take up over 250 acres of protected mangroves and the owners have not been able to prove their ownership rights to officers.

Being a popular tourist destination, encroachment within Rayong province is rampant where a number of choice areas have been turned into shrimp farms, resorts and restaurants.

The director general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said authorities have handed over evidence to the DSI for further investigation.

Warrants will be issued and property owners will be ordered to present their land titles and deeds to investigators. Those who are unable to present ownership papers will be charged.

Yesterday’s raid is the very first such action from the DMCR to reclaim encroached land despite years of blatant abuse to protected areas.

This is among the first of many investigations into encroachment issues which will span nationwide.

Mangrove forests are an important aspect to the ecosystem as it is the spawning areas for all forms of sea life. They are also for newly hatched marine creatures and protects coastal areas from erosion as it shelters sea front areas from strong waves.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/mangrove-forest-encroachment-now-suppression-list-juntas-returning-forest-people/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mangrove-forest-encroachment-now-suppression-list-juntas-returning-forest-people

-- Thai PBS 2014-08-30

[Ragzilb]

Shrimp farms in a mangrove, my GOD it is almost impossible to actually fix those systems.

[Prbkk]

Shrimp farms in a mangrove, my GOD it is almost impossible to actually fix those systems.

truly dreadful...been happening for decades. Hopefully this will curtail it.

[seajae]

these areas are the breeding grounds and nurseries for fish and prawns , without them we would see the continuing decline in fish and prawn(shrimp) stocks. It is bad enough that the thai fishermen to use 1/4" nets so they take absolutely everything and destroy what stocks there are but to actually destroy the areas needed to continue to breed the stocks to start with is just wrong. Again we see greed overtake the future of the country and will see nothing happen to the wealthy owners apart from wrist slapping, way past time the thai govt seized their finances and actually made them pay huge fines and reimburse the thai people for all the damage caused, They need to strip these people of all their wealth, it is the only way to stop it happening in the future, when they know they will end up poor they will not take chances at losing any of their wealth doing corrupt practices such as this.

[Local Drunk]

Hell yes I like this post!

[clockman]

these areas are the breeding grounds and nurseries for fish and prawns , without them we would see the continuing decline in fish and prawn(shrimp) stocks. It is bad enough that the thai fishermen to use 1/4" nets so they take absolutely everything and destroy what stocks there are but to actually destroy the areas needed to continue to breed the stocks to start with is just wrong. Again we see greed overtake the future of the country and will see nothing happen to the wealthy owners apart from wrist slapping, way past time the thai govt seized their finances and actually made them pay huge fines and reimburse the thai people for all the damage caused, They need to strip these people of all their wealth, it is the only way to stop it happening in the future, when they know they will end up poor they will not take chances at losing any of their wealth doing corrupt practices such as this.

Just wishful thinking. It is never going to happen.

[DrLom]

these areas are the breeding grounds and nurseries for fish and prawns , without them we would see the continuing decline in fish and prawn(shrimp) stocks. It is bad enough that the thai fishermen to use 1/4" nets so they take absolutely everything and destroy what stocks there are but to actually destroy the areas needed to continue to breed the stocks to start with is just wrong. Again we see greed overtake the future of the country and will see nothing happen to the wealthy owners apart from wrist slapping, way past time the thai govt seized their finances and actually made them pay huge fines and reimburse the thai people for all the damage caused, They need to strip these people of all their wealth, it is the only way to stop it happening in the future, when they know they will end up poor they will not take chances at losing any of their wealth doing corrupt practices such as this.

Just wishful thinking. It is never going to happen.

How would the people intent on doing such carry it through, if they may also end up poor and lose assets (undisclosed ones, at that)?

That is the mentality we are dealing with...... bottom up to top down...... all are inclusive within the transparency domain....

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

This will be my personal winner of the crack downs during the last week, beats the crack down on Beer girls by miles.

[ratcatcher]

these areas are the breeding grounds and nurseries for fish and prawns , without them we would see the continuing decline in fish and prawn(shrimp) stocks. It is bad enough that the thai fishermen to use 1/4" nets so they take absolutely everything and destroy what stocks there are but to actually destroy the areas needed to continue to breed the stocks to start with is just wrong. Again we see greed overtake the future of the country and will see nothing happen to the wealthy owners apart from wrist slapping, way past time the thai govt seized their finances and actually made them pay huge fines and reimburse the thai people for all the damage caused, They need to strip these people of all their wealth, it is the only way to stop it happening in the future, when they know they will end up poor they will not take chances at losing any of their wealth doing corrupt practices such as this.

Just wishful thinking. It is never going to happen.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Ain 't never gonna happen eh?

[MobileContent]

Good start: Maybe the General could also go after Sathit Pitutecha, the former MP for Rayong or the Rayong Governor Sayumphon Limthai for letting it happen.

[wilcopops]

Mangroves in Thailand have been systematically destroyed by agriculture and developers for decades, despite the fact that there is ample evidence in other countries as to the damage that this does both to the environment and existing economies.

Mangroves are flat and don't look very nice, but they are the eco-kydneys between land and sea. They filter pollutions, floods and sediments, they are breeding and nursing grounds for the majority of fish in the oceans and are breeding grounds for thousands of birds and other wildlife.

Almost ALL of the coastline from around the Gulf of Siam has suffered major depletion of mangroves....so one wonders what the government actually has in mind when they say they will tackle this problem.

the terminology is suspect for a start....it isn't actually encroachment, it is wholesale destruction sanctioned by successive governments

[RickBradford]

^^

And mangroves are very good at protecting coastlines from storm surges and erosion. All in all, they are an extremely important plant.

They just lack the cutesy factor which tends to be an important factor in conservation decisions.

[Dibbler]

Returning mangrove forests to which people? There are no old-growth mangroves left anywhere in Thailand because the people have encroached, cleared and/or damaged all of them. Don't return any to the people, set them aside and fence them off, and enforce restrictions on access so people can't exploit what's left of them.

[shanahan]

Almost ALL of the coastline from around the Gulf of Siam has suffered major depletion of mangroves.

Is the Gulf of Siam anywhere near Bombay?

[wilcopops]

Almost ALL of the coastline from around the Gulf of Siam has suffered major depletion of mangroves.

Is the Gulf of Siam anywhere near Bombay?

Eh?

[DeepInTheForest]

Almost ALL of the coastline from around the Gulf of Siam has suffered major depletion of mangroves.

Is the Gulf of Siam anywhere near Bombay?

Thanks for this, shanahan. I had no idea, really.

For interested others, simply google "bombay mangroves".

http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/59290/1/4.3.Harikrishnan.pdf

[h90]

these areas are the breeding grounds and nurseries for fish and prawns , without them we would see the continuing decline in fish and prawn(shrimp) stocks. It is bad enough that the thai fishermen to use 1/4" nets so they take absolutely everything and destroy what stocks there are but to actually destroy the areas needed to continue to breed the stocks to start with is just wrong. Again we see greed overtake the future of the country and will see nothing happen to the wealthy owners apart from wrist slapping, way past time the thai govt seized their finances and actually made them pay huge fines and reimburse the thai people for all the damage caused, They need to strip these people of all their wealth, it is the only way to stop it happening in the future, when they know they will end up poor they will not take chances at losing any of their wealth doing corrupt practices such as this.

In Lankawai (Malaysia) they did (at least for while) illegal fishing. Take the boat, maybe remove the gasoline and oil and sink it there on the spot as artificial reef.

That would fix all problems with illegal fishing in 3-6 month.

[h90]

This will be my personal winner of the crack downs during the last week, beats the crack down on Beer girls by miles.

seems for a lot good things we need to swallow some nonsense as well.

So far it is worth it.

[wilcopops]

these areas are the breeding grounds and nurseries for fish and prawns , without them we would see the continuing decline in fish and prawn(shrimp) stocks. It is bad enough that the thai fishermen to use 1/4" nets so they take absolutely everything and destroy what stocks there are but to actually destroy the areas needed to continue to breed the stocks to start with is just wrong. Again we see greed overtake the future of the country and will see nothing happen to the wealthy owners apart from wrist slapping, way past time the thai govt seized their finances and actually made them pay huge fines and reimburse the thai people for all the damage caused, They need to strip these people of all their wealth, it is the only way to stop it happening in the future, when they know they will end up poor they will not take chances at losing any of their wealth doing corrupt practices such as this.

In Lankawai (Malaysia) they did (at least for while) illegal fishing. Take the boat, maybe remove the gasoline and oil and sink it there on the spot as artificial reef.

That would fix all problems with illegal fishing in 3-6 month.

you obviously have no experience of removing "gasoline and oil" from boats and preparing them to make artificial reefs