Community Mangrove Management in Pred Nai Village, Thailand

This case study describes forest management activities undertaken in a mangrove forest by the Pred Nai Community Forestry Group in Thailand. The village of Pred Nai is in Trat Province near the border of Cambodia. The mangrove is one of the last surviving mangrove forests on Thailand’s eastern seaboard. The portion within Pred Nai covers 1,728 hectares (ha) (including 320 ha of plantation). Commercial logging since the 1940s has destroyed or degraded a significant area of mangrove forests in and near Pred Nai. This case study discusses community action to restore the mangrove, beginning with attempts to prevent commercial logging for charcoal production. This was followed by the restoration of mangrove trees through plantations, as well as protection to allow regeneration. This evolved into active management of the mangroves to increase the production of aquatic species. Although the mangrove forest is technically under the authority of the Royal Forest Department, this has not prevented community action