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  นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๒๒ เดือนสิงหาคม ๒๕๔๖ ISSN 0857-1538  

Phra Anake Jantapanyo

: The Ray of Hope Over the River Fang
  Story: Kesorn Sittiniw
Photos: Pravej Tantrapirom
 
Click to Bigger     The sight of a monk travelling around in a pick-up truck with a bunch of local villagers is familiar for people in Fang district, Chiang Mai. For more than ten years, Phra Anake Jantapanyo, the abbot of Wat Khlong Sila has worked together with local villagers to revive the vast Wiengdong forest _ an abundant source of food and herbal medicine for people who live there.
    The conservation work started about ten years ago, when Phra Anake went up to a deserted temple on the hill to meditate. The view saddened him. The 30,000 rai forest that was once so rich with trees, herbs and wildlife was reduced to dry trees and cracking lands.
    From that moment on, Phra Anake set out to regenerate the land and forest. He campaigned among villagers and finally got them to establish a Wiengdong Forest Conservation Community. The group was formed by representatives from each village with the monk as chairman.
Click to Bigger     They started by "ordaining'' the 1,200-rai watershed forest around the hill, wrapping saffron robes around trees and posting signs declaring it a conservation forest. The campaign has gained pace after that, with villagers setting up groups to monitor poachers, to develop fire barrier and to grow more trees to regenerate the forest.
    The monk and group leaders try to instil the conservation awareness into the heart of people in the neighbourhood as well. For years, they travel around to exchange their experience with villagers in nearby districts, ask for cooperation from government units or get students out of their class to learn about the importance of natural resources and the environment.
    After ten years, their continuous work has borne fruit. More than 8,000 rai of the Wiengdong forest has regenerated. It has become a source of livelihood _ the place where villagers can gather food and medicine for consumption and sale all year round.
Click to Bigger     The work was far from over, however. Fang, with its cold weather and abundant water, is suitable for orange plantation, a lucrative business. For several years, a number of large-scale plantations have popped up in the once quiet district. The business grows fast. Within the last three years, the number of orange plantation has expanded tenfold, from 70 to 700 _ a 1000 % increase.
    The growth has its impacts. Some local roads were diverted for the farm's use. Competition over the use of public water followed. Many villagers complain of health threats and environmental contamination from the intensive use of chemical pesticide and fertilizer.
    Realizing that the oranges grown on their land can bring in billions of baht from export, Phra Anake and the conservation group do not seek to oust the plantations from Fang. They only wish that the government is far-sighted enough to save the forest both for sustainable use of the present generation and for posterity.