Environmental research

Since 1987 communities in Northern Thailand have adopted the practice of cremation by using used automobile tyres as fuel source. Especially in rural area of Chiangmai Province, nearly every village practises this as used automobile tyres are generally available while fire-woods are scarce. One corpse requires 2-3 tyres to cremate. Averagely, there are 2 corpses per month per villages in Chiangmai.Therefore, there would be 9,672 tyres to burn monthly for 1,612 villages in the province. This practice has been contributing to Green House Gas Emission continuously while the communities are ignorant of the impact of the gas. The Mahamakut University, Lanna Campus has been involving in community development work through non-formal education. The university providing education and training to monk students who later work among communities. The university sees the urgency of the problem on using tyres in the cremating process and thus initiates the campaigns to reverse the trend. Project goals or objectives (including GEF problem-area addressed by projects): 1. To educate and raise awareness of monk leaders and community members regarding the adverse effect of burning tyres and the need for natural resources and environment conservation 2. To promote the plantation of native-species, fast-growing trees for fire-woods in project area for 2 acres 3. To encourage the establishment of fire-woods Fund for cremation in the community 4. To support monk networking for community-based environment conservation Activities to be carried out under project: 1. To launch seminars for monk leaders , working group and resource persons, aiming to attain strategy and measures for implementing the project. 2. To provide the insight to community members regarding the effect of burning tyres 3. To carry out the native-species, fast-growing trees plantation 4. To mobilize the resources for fire-woods Fund 5. To launch meeting among 7 nearby temples and 7 villages for future campaigns and outreaches to other communities Project participants and/or beneficiaries: 1. Population of Ban Nong Sae with 335 families and 1,228 people 2. Monk leaders in Tambol Huay Sai, San Kamphaeng District , totaling 14 leaders 3. Chiangmai Uninversity 4. Huay Sai Tambol Adminstrative Organization Anticipated results of project: 1. The congregation of Ban Nong Sae (Nong Sae Village) ceases using the tyres in the cremating process and become instilled with natural resources conservation awareness. 2. There emerges one fire-woods Fund amounting to Baht: 4,000: being rotated for the purchase of fire-woods for the cremating process. 3. There emerges one native, fast-growing forest with the area of 2 acres being reserved for the cremating process. 4. There emerges a monk network undertaking the natural resources conservation campaigns at a district and provincial level.

Thailand