The cabinet on Tuesday approved the long-awaited draft of the community forest bill that would allow forest dwellers to live in forests and even make use of resources by collecting forest products and running eco-friendly tourism.
"This bill will make forests akin to a supermarket where villagers can walk in and collect wild products [such as wild mushrooms and ant eggs] for cooking or even selling," Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Gen Surasak Karnjanarat said after a cabinet meeting Tuesday.
"When this proposed law comes into effect it will help villagers earn income and eventually extricate them from poverty. The government believed communities can earn 4.26 billion baht from being allowed to collect and sell wild products," he said.
The bill requires relevant authorities to form three committees to co-manage forest resources. First would be national committee, the second would be a provincial panel and the third a community level one on which villagers can sit.
Communities would be required to look after forests and make part of them special conservation zones, Gen Surasak said.
Gen Surasak said his ministry is going to write another four ministerial ordinances to help communities and the authorities manage forests together.
Prime Minister's Office Minister, Kobsak Pootrakool, said Tuesday that the government aims to use the forest community law to create strong grassroots communities.
This is just the start, said Mr Kobsak adding that the government is going to table other two bills related to grassroots communities for cabinet approval by next month. One would allow established communities to obtain non-transferable title deeds for public land. The other would be designed to boost the economy of local communities.
The cabinet's approval of the forest community bill Tuesday was the culmination of efforts begun in 1999 but had failed to materialise.
If the bill becomes law it will govern the management of 19.1 million rai of forests across the country -- including land in protected areas such as national parks where people were living before before the areas were declared protected. It is hoped it will improve the livelihoods of 3 million families in 21,850 villages. The law however would not grant land ownership to forest dwellers.