BANGKOK, 22 June 2015 – The MNRE Minister has revealed that Thailand is set to propose the development roadmap of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex to the World Heritage Committee’s session next week in Bonn, Germany.
The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan has revealed that Thailand will be presenting the development plan and a management roadmap for the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex to the 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee. This upcoming World Heritage session will be held in Bonn, Germany during 28 June – 8 July 2015.
He said that the roadmap aims to push the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex to be acknowledged as the third Natural World Heritage Site in Thailand. The roadmap will contain solutions to land allocation problems and improvements to the livelihoods of ethnic groups residing in the area.
The solution for the issues in the Dong Phayayen – Khao Yai Forest Complex will also be presented to the session in order to prevent the forest complex from being placed on the the list of Endangered World Heritage Sites.
The MNRE Minister has stressed that Thailand needs to present the data that confirms solutions to the problems occurring in the forest area, such as the suppression of illegal deforestation and the illegal trade of Siamese Rosewood during 2014-2015, as well as relevant information on the suppression of illegal hunting activities in the area.
The roadmap will be presented as a reference for the committee’s consideration on whether to announce the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as a Natural World Heritage Site. All roadmap suggestions gathered from this upcoming session will be taken to improve the site, before presenting the developments to the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2016.
