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Baan Bang La Conservation Group Wins Global Equator Prize

 

 

A UNDP small grant conservation group of Baan Bang La has been awarded the 2017 international Equator Prize for a decade of efforts to protect a mangrove sanctuary against the high tide of commercial land development on Phuket’s coast, UNDP press release said.
 

The Community Mangrove Forest Conservation of Baan Bang La is one among the 15 winners of the prize, chosen among 806 nominations from 120 countries.

 

It is the first UNDP Small Grant community from Thailand to win this global award, which is organized by the Equator Initiative within the UNDP. The award is announced biennially to recognize outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

 

As sustainable community initiatives take root throughout the tropics, they are laying the foundation for a global movement of local successes that are collectively making a contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

As local and indigenous groups across the tropics demonstrate and exemplify sustainable development, the Equator Prize shines a spotlight on their efforts by celebrating them on an international stage.

 

Baan Bangla or Bangla Village, a small Muslim community, is situated on the Phang Nga Bay, about 20 kilometers east of Phuket town and has 150 households.

 

 Their main incomes are from aqua-culture, coastal fishing, and small-scale para-rubber plantations. During the past 10 years, there has been a fierce expansion of commercial land development into their locality, the villagers have to fight to resist illegal claims by private investors on their public land, by using community-based approaches to conserve marine and coastal resources as well as to strengthen their livelihoods security.

 

The group has managed to protect 192 hectares of the mangrove as a community forest, together with the two adjacent villages and in cooperation with local and provincial authorities, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, as well as universities and schools in the area.

 

Over a decade of development, Bangla Community Mangrove Forest has systematic and participatory rules and regulations on the sustainable use of the mangrove among the members.

 

The living proof of their success is the return of the flagship species - the Phuket Sea Otters, after 20 years of disappearance from the area. These local small-clawed sea otters have not only returned but also proliferated as their habitats are restored and protected. Their sources of food and habitat such as horse mussels and sea grasses also becomes more abundant in the demarcated zone.

 

The community also set up a community savings group to develop alternative livelihoods, to support financial and welfare schemes, and to provide financial resources to look after the community mangrove forest in the long run. 

 

As a winner, it will receive US$10,000 to further support their work. A representative from the community will be invited to personally receive the Equator Prize 2017 at a high-profile event on September 17, in New York. 

 

Aroon Bamroongna, the community leader said “We are very glad to receive this recognition. It will help us go forward with more strength to conserve our mangrove sanctuary, which is our source of life. The money received from the award will go into our community conservation fund to support Baan Bangla and other communities in Phang Nga Bay Networks to protect the mangroves, coastal resources, and the otters.”

 

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Martin Hart-Hansen said “We are extremely proud of our friends at Baan Bangla, both for their dedication, their achievements, and now for receiving this global award.”

 

“The award recognizes the power of people to achieve great results for their communities, for future generations, and for the world, and the people of Baan Bangla have done just that, and will continue to do so. We are very proud to have been part of that journey and continue to work with communities across Thailand to do the same.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30322666

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-03