BASELINE STUDY 5, Thailand - Forest Trends

8. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
8.1 Government
Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE)
Royal Forestry Department (RFD) is responsible for forest areas outside of protected areas, as well as promoting
community forestry and private sector plantations. Since the establishment of the MNRE, RFD staffing has
been limited in its key functions and relegated mainly to the provincial level. There is often confusion and overlap
between the functions and tasks of RFD and the Department of National Parks, and according to ITTO
(2006: 86) there exists a “lack of clear vision among public sector administrators of what the [RFD’s] mission is
and what its functions and resources should be.”
Divisions of particular relevance for forest governance include:
Private Reforestation Division promotes private plantation investment by providing financial incentives to
smallholders to establish tree plantations (reforestation and plantation establishment), targeting rural villages
as a poverty alleviation measure;
Division of Forest Protection and Fire Control is responsible for illegal logging issues, along with the Division
of Forest Law
Division of Forest Law is in charge of detailing national laws as they pertain to forest management in the
country.
Community Forestry Division is responsible for the drafting and implementation of community forestry
bills and programs. It supports local communities to manage their forests to some degree, but has been
limited to pilot projects in the past. The Community Forest Division of the RFD supports local communities
to manage their forests to some degree, although for now it only includes pilot projects until the Community
Forestry Act is finally passed.
Permission Division: is responsible for regulating and monitoring the country’s systematic procedures in
the country’s wood import and export industry, including methods to obtain a wood export certificate.
National Parks, Wildlife and Plan Conservation Department (DNP) is responsible for protected areas in Thailand.
Forest Industry Organization (FIO) is also an arm of the MNRE, but distinct from the Royal Forest Department.
24 It often acts as the business arm of the RFD, however. The FIO is a state-owned forestry enterprise,
founded in 1947, involved in a wide array of forest activities, including plantation and resource management,
industrial wood processing and marketing, tourism, conservation and social development. The FIO is involved in
the selling of confiscated wood, reforestation, teak plantation development and management, and log exports.
The FIO is the only agency in Thailand that can legally export wood logs, including teak (notably not allowed by
the private sector); however, the FIO log export volumes are minimal. Prior to the logging ban, the FIO also
managed logging concessions.
FIO receives governmental funds to operate special plantation projects, and must raise the revenues for all
other operations. The FIO in general focuses more on rubber and eucalyptus plantations rather than teak in
24 Although the RFD Director General sits on the FIO Board.
© EU FLEGT Facility, BASELINE STUDY 5, Thailand: Overview of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, July 2011
This Action is funded by the European Union and the governments of Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. The views expressed herein
can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
www.euflegt.efi.int
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