Authors : Patarapong Kroeksakul, Kun Silprasit and Pramuk Srichaiwong
Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the household strategies used by residents of Loadern village for the Donparpoa public forest, considering the relationship of villagers and public forests for developing guidelines for conservation of a public forest. This study utilizes a qualitative methodology for collecting and analyzing data, with the focus on perception and utilization of the Donparpoa public forest by villagers in Lowdern village. The data collected can be divided into 3 groups which are: information about socioeconomics (114 persons), household information and individual interviews (35 persons) and key informant (5 persons). The study involved content analysis and a Likert scale was used for information analysis. Results showed that most households are employed (55.462%) and those working in agriculture have the highest average income per year (627,224 Baht/year/household). In the past the Donparpoa forest was used for animal raising by residents of Loadern village but at the present time villagers do not use the public forest. The reason that villagers do not use the forest is because often the villager’s livelihoods are not related to public forest use or that villagers think that the public forest is owned by the local government. However, Donparpoa is a heritage and property of the village from their ancestors and the awareness of villager has an indirect benefit to the forest through environment protection. The recommendation of the study was that the Possible to in the future the local government should empower the villagers with participation in public forest management and protection and develop the Donparpoa area as a local learning area for students and villagers to increase local education about their local natural resources.
Patarapong Kroeksakul, Kun Silprasit and Pramuk Srichaiwong, 2020. Evaluation of the Change of Relation Between the Inhabitants and the Public Forest: Case Study of Donparpao Public Forest. Agricultural Journal, 15: 78-85.