Conservation requires community involvement, says Ramsar laureate
STORY BY PLOENPOTE ATTHAKOR, PHOTO BY YINGYONG UN-ANONGRAK
Anyone visiting the office of Assoc Prof Sansanee Chooweaw, laureate of this year's Ramsar Award, will be struck by her huge collection of owl-shaped dolls in various colours and materials.
On the wall is a big poster of a colourful kingfisher.
"I like kingfishers. It is a nok nam - wetland bird," said Sansanee, also a lecturer at Mahidol University's faculty of environment and resource studies.
Obviously the owl is her favourite, she said while showing an archaic wooden doll which she described as her first collectible item.
The lecturer said she is impressed with the nocturnal creature's character - a camouflaged predator that is able to make sharp, sudden attacks on its prey.
When asked if that resembles her own character in any way, the soft-spoken lecturer smiled shyly, saying: "I used to work late at night but I am now trying to change that working habit a little."
She stopped short of saying, however, that her work as a dedicated Ramsar educator requires patience, strong will and determination. With all those qualifications, she has been named Ramsar laureate in the education category. The award presentation will take place at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP) at the Ramsar Convention in South Korea next month.
Assoc Prof Sansanee is recognised by the Ramsar Committee for her lengthy dedication to wetland conservation work both at policy-making and grassroots levels. She is also an ardent networker, and has been widely involved with communities and their representatives, placing value on traditional knowledge and culture related to wetlands. She has been credited with numerous publications on the issue. One of the most remarkable items is Classification and Inventory of Wetlands and Aquatic Ecosystems in the Mekong Basin in Thailand, which was submitted to the Mekong River Commission Secretariat in 2003.
"Our wetland education started from scratch," Sansanee said, adding she started to get seriously involved in the issue in 1992 when she helped draw up a curriculum for the postgraduate programme which incorporated wetland management studies in the faculty. Before that she conceded that she had no idea what - and how important - wetlands were.
"Actually, the term wetland was very new to Thais. The first difficulty I encountered was how to find the terminology for wetland in Thai at that time [late 1980s]. We then asked for help from the Royal Institute which brought to our attention that there was a Thai term for "wetwood", which was mai cham nam and wetlands could possibly be puenthi cham nam. However, that sounded strange and after rounds of debate and discussion we eventually settled on puenthi chum nam and the term has survived until today," she said.
Yet more than 15 years after the term came into existence, many still raise their eyebrows upon hearing of Ramsar, wetlands or puenthi chum nam. Designating any area as a Ramsar site means it is a wetland of international significance. Thailand ratified the convention in 1998 and as of February this year Thailand already has 11 Ramsar sites on its territory, with Khao Samroi Yod national park as the latest registered site.
"Many simply don't understand what the Ramsar Convention or puenthi chum nam is about. Some people even fear that they will be evicted should the convention be implemented in their areas. That is just not true."
According to Sansanee, the Ramsar Convention recognises the role of the community and, unlike many other conventions, its implementation does not require eviction.
"This is the most friendly international agreement. It encourages the community to realise the importance of wetlands and keep them for sustainable use. It supports people's subsistence and livelihood as well as the well-being of the community," she said, adding that it's necessary to correct people's misunderstandings.
The fears have delayed a Ramsar registration process for a number of significant wetlands in the country, including Bung Boraphet in Nakhon Sawan and Samroi Yod national park in Prachuap Khiri Khan, which was declared a Ramsar site last February.
"Now people and officials in Nakhon Sawan have learned of the convention and we can hope Bung Boraphet can be listed soon," said Assoc Prof Sansanee.
In case a country fails to properly safeguard its wetlands, she said, the convention also provides help by listing troubled sites on the Montreux Record. That means there will be technical and financial assistance to restore the site in question to full recovery.
Sansanee maintained that education is the foundation that can prevent the mismanagement of wetlands.
At times, Sansanee has travelled to many parts of the country to provide workshop and training on Ramsar awareness to locals. She regards the work as a rewarding experience, saying it's she who learned a great deal from locals.
"It's true that they do not have puenthi chum nam in their vocabulary. People know it as collective noun - bung, nong, huay, pu and others, depending on the region. People in certain areas realise well the importance of this ecological system and how it works," she said.
"For instance, those in Isan know paa bung paa tame [flooded forest with high biodiversity]. For them, such forest is like a supermarket, a refrigerator where they can find and have food. It also serves as the womb of an ecological system that is important for fish breeding and spawning. They may have not much money but they have plenty of food for their families. We risk losing such knowledge if it's not contained in the state curriculum," she said.
A move to conserve the wetlands has in many cases led to conflict between people and the state, she said. A case in point is Rasi Salai reservoir in Si Sa Ket province and Pak Moon dam in Ubon Ratchathani.
Sansanee said she pays special attention to the role of women in wetland conservation.
There are two outstanding women in Isan whom she worked with and learned a lot from, she said. "They are Mae Ueng, a Thai Baan researcher of Tha Bo village in the Songkhram river basin in Nakhon Phanom and Mae Bha, a leader of the Goot Peng conservation group in Roi Et province. They are resource persons for our wetland training courses."
Sansanee noted that even though women may not be the traditional breadwinners of the family, they possess traditional knowledge - the various types of vegetables and the times when certain vegetables abound - and they pass on that knowledge to their children.
"The formation of women's networks is very important in environmental protection work," said Sansanee, the only female Ramsar awardee this year.
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