Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary
Encyclopedia
The Wildlife Sanctuary Thung Yai Naresuan is a protected area in Thailand
in the northern part of Kanchanaburi province
and the southern part of Tak province
. It was created as a Wildlife Sanctuary on April 24, 1974 and was declared a World Heritage Site
by the UNESCO
in 1991 together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
.
to Burma, at the southern tip of the Dawna Range. It extends northeast of the Three Pagodas Pass
from Sangkhla Buri District (Kanchanaburi Province
) into Umphang District
(Tak Province
).
The Wildlife Sanctuary stretches over an area of about 369.000 ha and is the largest protected area in Thailand
.
Together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
(Thai: ) it constitutes the core area of the Western Forest Complex
which represents the largest conglomeration of contiguous protected areas in Mainland Southeast Asia.
The area is predominantly mountainous and composed of various limestones interspersed with massive intrusions of granite
and smaller outcrops of quartzite
and schist
.
Altitudes range from about 180 metres above sea level at the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir
in the south of the sanctuary to its highest peak Khao Tai Pa reaching 1,811 metres.
Major rivers are the Mae Klong
and the Mae Chan which originate in the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary
and conjoin in Thung Yai into the Upper Khwae Yai
which feeds the Si Nakharin Reservoir.
Various smaller rivers in the south and southwest feed the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir
while in the northwestern part of the sanctuary the Mae Kasat and the Mae Suriya flow into Burma.
Average minimum and maximum daily temperatures range from 20°C to 33°C in the wet season, 15°C to 35°C in the hot, dry season, and 10°C to 29°C in the cooler season.
Day-time temperatures can exceed 40° in April while night-time temperatures of 7°C are not uncommon in the cool season.
The average annual rainfall is decreasing from the western part of the sanctuary receiving 2,000 to 2,400 millimetres a year to annual rainfalls between 1,600 and 2,000 millimetres in the eastern parts of the sanctuary. Over 80% of the rain is brought by the Southwest Monsoon
from the Andaman Sea
.
the sanctuary lies at the interface between the terminal southern ridges of the eastern Himalayas
and the equatorial forests of the great Sunda Shelf
. As most of the sanctuary is botanically unexplored, scientific knowledge about its rich flora
is sparse.
Montane Evergreen forests
cover about 15% of the sanctuary and occur along the mountain ridges above 1,000 metres where moisture levels are high.
Seasonal or Dry Evergreen forests
are found on about 31% of the area, predominantly on land lying between 800 and 1,000 metres elevation.
Gallery Evergreen forests occur along permanent watercourses, where humidity is high and the soil perpetually moist. They are often categorized under Dry Evergreen forests, but are particularly important to the sanctuary's fauna.
Mixed Deciduous forest
is the most common forest type in Thung Yai covering about 45%, predominantly in areas below 800 metres elevation.
Dry Dipterocarp
forest is a formation unique to Mainland Southeast Asia and is found on about 1% of the area.
Savanna
forest and Grassland
covers about 4%, predominantly in the thung yai or "big field" covering about 140 km² at the centre of the sanctuary.
The remaining 4% of the area are categorized as secondary forests
, fallow areas and swidden fields in the nomination for the World Heritage Site, but comprise also various Bamboo forests
which are not distinguished in this classification.
Among the mammal
species living in Thung Yai are Lar Gibbon
(Hylobates lar), various species of macaque
(Macaca) und lutung
(Trachypithecus), Tiger
(Panthera tigris), Leopard
(Panthera pardus), Clouded Leopard
(Neofelis nebulosa), Sun Bear
(Helarctos malayanus) and Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus), Malayan Tapir
(Tapirus indicus), Asian Elephant
(Elephas maximus), Gaur
(Bos gaurus), Hog Deer
(Cervus porcinus), Sambar (Rusa unicolor), Fea's Muntjac
(Muntiacus feae) und Sumatran Serow
(Capricornis sumatraensis) as well as many bat
species probably including Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai).
Banteng
(Bos javanicus) and Wild water buffalo (Bubalus amee) are known to occur in the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
and may exist in Thung Yai too.
Indications for the occurrence of Javan Rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros sondaicus) and Sumatran Rhinoceros
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in the area are recorded from the 1980s, but have not been confirmed since then.
Bird species sighted in Thung Yai include White-winged Wood Duck
(Cairina scutulata), Kalij Pheasant
(Lophura leucomelanos), Grey Peacock-pheasant
(Polyplectron bicalcaratum), Green Peafowl
(Pavo muticus), Spot-billed Pelican
(Pelecanus philippensis), Oriental Darter
(Anhinga melanogaster), Painted Stork
(Mycteria leucocephala), Greater Adjutant
(Leptoptilos dubius), Red-headed Vulture
(Sarcogyps calvus), Mountain Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis), Lesser Fish Eagle
(Ichthyophaga humilis) and all six species of Hornbill
(Bucerotidae) living in Mainland Southeast Asia.
The nomination for the two Wildlife Sanctuaries Thung Yai Naresuan and Huai Kha Khaeng to be a World Heritage Site lists some 120 species of mammal
, 400 birds, 96 reptiles, 43 amphibiens
and 113 species of fish
, but research on the biodiversity in the sanctuaries is sparse.
, Mesolithic
and Neolithic
stone tools have been found in the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai river
valleys and parts of the sanctuary were inhabited by Neolithic
man.
Since at least 700 years, the Dawna-Tenasserim
region has been home to Mon
and Karen people
, but burial grounds in Thung Yai and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
have not been systematically researched yet.
The Thai name "Thung Yai Naresuan", on the one hand, refers to the "big field" (thung yai) or savanna
in the centre of the sanctuary, on the other hand to King Naresuan
, a famous Siamese
ruler who supposedly based his army in the area to wage war against Burma sometime during his reign of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
from 1590 until his death in 1605.
The Karen people
who live in the sanctuary call the savanna
pia aethala aethea which may be translated as "place of the knowing sage". It refers to the area as a place where ascetic
hermits called aethea have lived and meditated and may do so even today. The Karen in Thung Yai regard them as holy men important for their history and identity in Thung Yai and revere them in a specific cult.
Historical sources as well as local oral traditions suggest that settlement of Karen people
in Thung Yai - on a bigger scale - did not occur before the second half of the 18th century. At that time, due to political and religious persecution in Burma, predominantly Pwo-Karen from the hinterlands of Moulmein and Tavoy migrated into the area northeast of the Three Pagodas Pass
, where they received formal settlement rights from the Siamese
Governor of Kanchanaburi
.
Sometime between 1827 and 1839 the Siamese King Rama III established this area as a principality (mueang
) and the Karen
-leader who was governing the principality received the Siamese title of nobility Phra Si Suwannakhiri.
During the second half of the 19th century, this Karen
-principality at the Burmese border became particularly important for the Siamese King Rama V (Chulalongkorn
) in his negotiations with the British colonial power in Burma regarding the demarcation of their western border with Siam.
In the beginning of the 20th century, when the modern Thai nation state
was established, the Karen
in Thung Yai lost their former status and importance. During the first half of the 20th century, external political influences were minimal in Thung Yai and the Karen communities were highly autonomous regarding their internal affairs. This changed in the second half of the 20th century, when the Thai nation state
extended its institutions into the peripheral areas and the Karen re-appeared as chao khao or "hill tribes" on the national political agenda, as forest destroyers and illegal immigrants.
Plans to protect the forests and wildlife at the upper Khwae Yai
and Khwae Noi river grew in the mid-1960s. Due to strong logging and mining interests in the area, it was not before 1972 that the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
could be established, and regarding Thung Yai resistance was even stronger. However, in April 1973 a military helicopter crashed near Thung Yai and revealed an illegal hunting party of senior military officers with family members, businessmen, and a film star, arousing nationwide public outrage which finally led to the fall of the Thanom-Prapas Regime after the uprising of October 14, 1973. After this accident and under a new democratic government, the area finally could be declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1974. After the Military had taken over power once again in October 1976, many of the activists of the democracy movement fled into peripheral regions of the country and some of them found refuge among the Karen people
living in Thung Yai.
During the 1960s, not only timber and ore but also the water of the western forests as hydroelectric power resources became of interest for commercial profit and national development. A system of several big dams was planned to produce electricity for the growing urban centres. On the Khwae Yai River
, the Si Nakharin Dam was finished in 1980 and the Tha Thung Na Dam in 1981, while the Khao Laem Dam (renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam
) on the Khwae Noi river south of Thung Yai was completed in 1984. The Nam Choan Dam, the last of the projected dams, was supposed to flood a forest area of about 223 km² within the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary.
The public dispute about the Nam Choan Dam Project lasted for more than six years, dominating national politics and public debate in early 1988 before it was shelved in April that year. Pointing to the high value of Thung Yai for nature conservation and biodiversity, the opponents on the national and international level had raised the possibility of declaring the area a World Heritage Site. This prestigious option would have been lost with a huge dam and reservoir in the middle of the two wildlife sanctuaries most promising to meet the requirements for a global heritage.
After the dam project was shelved, the proposal to UNESCO
was written by two persons who had been outspoken opponents in the Nam Choan Controversy and, in December 1991, Thung Yai Naresuan together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
was declared a Natural World Heritage Site
by UNESCO
. In the nomination, the "outstanding universal value" of the two Wildlife Sanctuaries is, in first place, justified with their extraordinary high biodiversity due to their unique position at the junction of four biogeographic zones, as well as with its size and "the undisturbed nature of its habitats".
Even though the UNESCO
nomination explicitly emphasizes the "undisturbed nature" of the area, and notwithstanding scientific studies supporting traditional settlement and use rights of the Karen people
in Thung Yai as well as the sustainability of their traditional land use system and their strong intention to remain in their homeland and to protect it, the governmental authorities define the people living in Thung Yai as a threat to the sanctuary and pursue their resettlement.
Karen villages in Huai Kha Khaeng
have already been removed when the Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1972, and in the late 1970s the remaining communities in Huai Kha Khaeng had to leave when the Si Nakharin Dam flooded their settlement areas. During the 1980s and early 1990s, villages of the Hmong
ethnic minority group were removed from the Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuaries. The resettlement of the remaining Karen
in Thung Yai was announced in the management plan for the sanctuary, drafted in the late 1980s, as well as in the proposal for the World Heritage Site. But, when the Thai Royal Forest Department tried to remove them in the early 1990s, it had to reverse the resettlement scheme due to strong public criticism. Since then, the authorities have used repression, intimidation and terror to convince the Karen
to leave their homeland 'voluntarily', and concentrated on restrictions on their traditional land use system which will inevitably cause its breakdown and deprive the Karen of their subsistence.
Buergin, Reiner (2000). "Hill tribes and forests: Minority policies and resource conflicts in Thailand". SEFUT Working Paper 7, ISSN 1616-8062. Freiburg: University of Freiburg. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/WP_7e.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2001). "Contested heritages: Disputes on people, forests, and a World Heritage Site in globalizing Thailand". SEFUT Working Paper 9, ISSN 1616-8062. Freiburg: University of Freiburg. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/WP_9.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2002). "Change and identity in Pwo Karen communities in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, a 'Global Heritage' in Western Thailand". SEFUT Working Paper 11, ISSN 1616-8062. Freiburg: University of Freiburg. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/WP_11.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2003a). "Trapped in environmental discourses and politics of exclusion: Karen in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in the context of forest and hill tribe policies in Thailand". In: Claudio O. Delang (ed.) Living at the edge of Thai Society: The Karen in the highlands of northern Thailand, pp. 43-63. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-415-32331-2.
Buergin, Reiner (2003b). "Shifting frames for local people and forests in a global heritage: The Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in the context of Thailand's globalization and modernization". Geoforum 34,3: 375-393. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/Buergin03.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2004). Umweltverhältnisse jenseits von Tradition und Moderne. Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag. ISBN 3-89821-392-7. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/DPub_web.pdf
Chan-ek Tangsubutra; Kulvadee Boonpinon; Mario Ambrosino (1995). "The traditional farming system of the Karen of Sanehpong village, Thung-Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand". In: H. Wood, M. McDaniel, K. Warner (eds.): Community development and conservation of forest biodiversity through community forestry, pp. 193-199. Bangkok: RECOFTC. ISBN 974-7315-90-4.
Delang, Claudio O.; Wong, Theresa (2006). "The livelihood-based forest classification system of the Pwo Karen in Western Thailand". Mountain Research and Development 26,2: 138–145.
Kulvadee Boonpinon (1997). Institutional arrangements in communal resource management: A case study of a Karen village in a protected area. M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok.
Seub Nakhasathien, Stewart-Cox, Belinda (1990). Nomination of the Thung Yai - Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary to be a U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Site. Bangkok: Royal Forest Department.
Steinmetz, Robert (1996). Landscape ecology and wildlife habitats: An indigenous Karen perspective in Thung Yai Wildlife Sanctuary of western Thailand. Bangkok: Wildlife Fund Thailand.
Steinmetz, Robert (1999). "The ecological science of the Karen in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Thailand". In: M. Colchester, C. Erni (eds.): From principles to practice: Indigenous peoples and protected areas in South and Southeast Asia, pp. 84-107. Copenhagen: IWGIA. ISBN 87-90730-18-6.
Steinmetz, Robert; Mather, Robert (1996). "Impact of Karen villages on the fauna of Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary: A participatory research project". Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 44: 23-40.
Steinmetz, Robert; Wanlop Chutipong; Naret Seuaturien (2006). "Collaborating to conserve large mammals in Southeast Asia". Conservation Biology 20,5: 1391-1401.
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
in the northern part of Kanchanaburi province
Kanchanaburi Province
- History :Archaeology found in Kanchanaburi dates back to the 4th century which proves of trade with surrounding countries even in that time. Very little is also historically known about the actual Khmer influence in Kanchanaburi but there is evidence of their occupation with Prasat Muang Singh –...
and the southern part of Tak province
Tak Province
Tak is one of the northern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani and Kanchanaburi...
. It was created as a Wildlife Sanctuary on April 24, 1974 and was declared a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 1991 together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
.
Location and Topography
The Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the western national border of ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to Burma, at the southern tip of the Dawna Range. It extends northeast of the Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass
The Three Pagodas Pass is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Burma , at an altitude of above sea level....
from Sangkhla Buri District (Kanchanaburi Province
Kanchanaburi Province
- History :Archaeology found in Kanchanaburi dates back to the 4th century which proves of trade with surrounding countries even in that time. Very little is also historically known about the actual Khmer influence in Kanchanaburi but there is evidence of their occupation with Prasat Muang Singh –...
) into Umphang District
Amphoe Umphang
Umphang is the southernmost district of Tak Province, Thailand at the Thai-Myanmar border. It is also the name of the town center of the district....
(Tak Province
Tak Province
Tak is one of the northern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani and Kanchanaburi...
).
The Wildlife Sanctuary stretches over an area of about 369.000 ha and is the largest protected area in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
(Thai: ) it constitutes the core area of the Western Forest Complex
Western Forest Complex
The Western Forest Complex, straddling two countries - Thailand and Myanmar - and comprising 19 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, is a main biodiversity conservation corridor of the region. Covering 18,730 square km, it is one of the largest protected territories in South East Asia...
which represents the largest conglomeration of contiguous protected areas in Mainland Southeast Asia.
The area is predominantly mountainous and composed of various limestones interspersed with massive intrusions of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and smaller outcrops of quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
and schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
.
Altitudes range from about 180 metres above sea level at the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir
Vajiralongkorn Dam
Vajiralongkorn Dam, formerly named the Khao Laem Dam, is a concrete-face rock-fill dam in Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The dam lies across the Khwae Noi River and was renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam after Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on July 13, 2001...
in the south of the sanctuary to its highest peak Khao Tai Pa reaching 1,811 metres.
Major rivers are the Mae Klong
Mae Klong
The Mae Klong is a river in western Thailand. The river begins at the confluence of the Khwae Noi or Khwae Sai Yok and the Khwae Yai River or Khwae Si Sawat in Kanchanaburi, pass Ratchaburi Province and empties into the Gulf of Thailand in Samut Songkhram....
and the Mae Chan which originate in the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary
Umphang Thee Lor Sue Waterfall
The Umphang Thee Lor Sue Waterfall is claimed to be the largest and highest waterfall in Thailand...
and conjoin in Thung Yai into the Upper Khwae Yai
Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River , also known as the Si Sawat , is a river in western Thailand. It flows for about 380 kilometres through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang Districts of Kanchanaburi Province, where it merges with the Khwae Noi to form the Mae Klong River at Pak Phraek subdistrict.The famous...
which feeds the Si Nakharin Reservoir.
Various smaller rivers in the south and southwest feed the Vajiralongkorn Reservoir
Vajiralongkorn Dam
Vajiralongkorn Dam, formerly named the Khao Laem Dam, is a concrete-face rock-fill dam in Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The dam lies across the Khwae Noi River and was renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam after Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on July 13, 2001...
while in the northwestern part of the sanctuary the Mae Kasat and the Mae Suriya flow into Burma.
Climate and Rainfall
The climate of the region is characterised by three main seasons: a hot, wet season from May to October, a cooler, dry period from November to January and a hot, dry season from February to April.Average minimum and maximum daily temperatures range from 20°C to 33°C in the wet season, 15°C to 35°C in the hot, dry season, and 10°C to 29°C in the cooler season.
Day-time temperatures can exceed 40° in April while night-time temperatures of 7°C are not uncommon in the cool season.
The average annual rainfall is decreasing from the western part of the sanctuary receiving 2,000 to 2,400 millimetres a year to annual rainfalls between 1,600 and 2,000 millimetres in the eastern parts of the sanctuary. Over 80% of the rain is brought by the Southwest Monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
from the Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....
.
Flora and Habitat Types
PhytogeographicallyPhytogeography
Phytogeography , also called geobotany, is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species...
the sanctuary lies at the interface between the terminal southern ridges of the eastern Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
and the equatorial forests of the great Sunda Shelf
Sunda Shelf
Geologically, the Sunda Shelf is a south east extension of the continental shelf of Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Madura, Bali and their surrounding smaller islands. It covers an area of approximately 1.85 million km2...
. As most of the sanctuary is botanically unexplored, scientific knowledge about its rich flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
is sparse.
Montane Evergreen forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
cover about 15% of the sanctuary and occur along the mountain ridges above 1,000 metres where moisture levels are high.
Seasonal or Dry Evergreen forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome....
are found on about 31% of the area, predominantly on land lying between 800 and 1,000 metres elevation.
Gallery Evergreen forests occur along permanent watercourses, where humidity is high and the soil perpetually moist. They are often categorized under Dry Evergreen forests, but are particularly important to the sanctuary's fauna.
Mixed Deciduous forest
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...
is the most common forest type in Thung Yai covering about 45%, predominantly in areas below 800 metres elevation.
Dry Dipterocarp
Dipterocarpus
Dipterocarpus is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus has about 70 species, occurring in Southeast Asia. It is an important component of dipterocarp forests...
forest is a formation unique to Mainland Southeast Asia and is found on about 1% of the area.
Savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
forest and Grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
covers about 4%, predominantly in the thung yai or "big field" covering about 140 km² at the centre of the sanctuary.
The remaining 4% of the area are categorized as secondary forests
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
, fallow areas and swidden fields in the nomination for the World Heritage Site, but comprise also various Bamboo forests
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
which are not distinguished in this classification.
Fauna
Like the flora, the fauna of Thung Yai provides a specific mix of species with Sundaic, Indo-Chinese, Indo-Burmese and Sino-Himalayan affinities due to the sanctuary's particular biogeographic location.Among the mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
species living in Thung Yai are Lar Gibbon
Lar Gibbon
The lar gibbon , also known as the white-handed gibbon, is a primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family. It is one of the better-known gibbons and is often seen in zoos.-Range:...
(Hylobates lar), various species of macaque
Macaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
(Macaca) und lutung
Lutung
The lutungs are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus Trachypithecus. Their range is split into two parts; one part is much of southeast Asia , the other part is extreme southern India and Sri Lanka. The greater part of India has lutungs...
(Trachypithecus), Tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
(Panthera tigris), Leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
(Panthera pardus), Clouded Leopard
Clouded Leopard
The clouded leopard is a felid found from the Himalayan foothills through mainland Southeast Asia into China, and has been classified as vulnerable in 2008 by IUCN...
(Neofelis nebulosa), Sun Bear
Sun Bear
The sun bear , sometimes known as the honey bear, is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia; North-East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.-Description:The sun bear...
(Helarctos malayanus) and Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus), Malayan Tapir
Malayan Tapir
The Malayan Tapir , also called the Asian Tapir, is the largest of the four species of tapir and the only one native to Asia. The scientific name refers to the East Indies, the species' natural habitat...
(Tapirus indicus), Asian Elephant
Asian Elephant
The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
(Elephas maximus), Gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
(Bos gaurus), Hog Deer
Hog Deer
The Hog Deer is a small deer whose habitat ranges from Pakistan, through northern India, to mainland southeast Asia...
(Cervus porcinus), Sambar (Rusa unicolor), Fea's Muntjac
Fea's muntjac
The Fea's Muntjac or Tenasserim muntjac is a rare species of muntjac native to People's Republic of China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam...
(Muntiacus feae) und Sumatran Serow
Sumatran Serow
The Sumatran Serow , also known as the Southern Serow, is a species of goat-antelope native to mountain forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The former name of this species is "mainland serow", as all the mainland species of serow used to be considered...
(Capricornis sumatraensis) as well as many bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
species probably including Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai).
Banteng
Banteng
The banteng , also known as tembadau, is a species of wild cattle found in Southeast Asia.Banteng have been domesticated in several places in Southeast Asia, and there are around 1.5 million domestic banteng, which are called Bali cattle. These animals are used as working animals and for their meat...
(Bos javanicus) and Wild water buffalo (Bubalus amee) are known to occur in the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
and may exist in Thung Yai too.
Indications for the occurrence of Javan Rhinoceros
Javan Rhinoceros
The Javan Rhinoceros or Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses...
(Rhinoceros sondaicus) and Sumatran Rhinoceros
Sumatran Rhinoceros
The Sumatran Rhinoceros is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It is the only extant species of the genus Dicerorhinus. It is the smallest rhinoceros, although is still a large mammal. This rhino stands high at the shoulder, with a head-and-body length of ...
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in the area are recorded from the 1980s, but have not been confirmed since then.
Bird species sighted in Thung Yai include White-winged Wood Duck
White-winged Wood Duck
The White-winged Duck or White-winged Wood Duck is a large species of duck, formerly placed in the genus Cairina and allied with the dabbling ducks...
(Cairina scutulata), Kalij Pheasant
Kalij Pheasant
The Kalij Pheasant, Lophura leucomelanos, is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from the Northern India to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have an at least partially glossy bluish-black plumage,...
(Lophura leucomelanos), Grey Peacock-pheasant
Grey Peacock-pheasant
The Grey Peacock-Pheasant, Polyplectron bicalcaratum also known as Burmese Peacock is a large Southeast Asian member of the order Galliformes. It is rather closely related to the peafowl , and like these – and like most other Polyplectron – has brilliant eyespots on its plumage...
(Polyplectron bicalcaratum), Green Peafowl
Green Peafowl
The Green Peafowl or Javan Peafowl, Pavo muticus is a large Galliform bird that is found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia...
(Pavo muticus), Spot-billed Pelican
Spot-billed Pelican
The Spot-billed Pelican or Grey Pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Pakistan across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes...
(Pelecanus philippensis), Oriental Darter
Oriental Darter
The Oriental Darter or Indian Darter , sometimes called Snakebird, is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.-Taxonomy:...
(Anhinga melanogaster), Painted Stork
Painted Stork
The Painted Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in South Asia and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive pink tertial feathers give them their name. They forage in flocks in shallow waters...
(Mycteria leucocephala), Greater Adjutant
Greater Adjutant
The Greater Adjutant is a member of the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its genus includes the Lesser Adjutant of Asia and the Marabou Stork of Africa...
(Leptoptilos dubius), Red-headed Vulture
Red-headed Vulture
The Red-headed Vulture , also known as the Asian King Vulture, Indian Black Vulture or Pondicherry Vulture,-Description:...
(Sarcogyps calvus), Mountain Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis), Lesser Fish Eagle
Lesser Fish Eagle
The Lesser Fish Eagle is a species of large fish eagle found in the Indian Subcontinent, primarily in the foothills of the Himalayas. There have been some stray reports from Gujarat and Central India and in more recent times from the Kaveri river valley in southern India. The distribution in...
(Ichthyophaga humilis) and all six species of Hornbill
Hornbill
Hornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family...
(Bucerotidae) living in Mainland Southeast Asia.
The nomination for the two Wildlife Sanctuaries Thung Yai Naresuan and Huai Kha Khaeng to be a World Heritage Site lists some 120 species of mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
, 400 birds, 96 reptiles, 43 amphibiens
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
and 113 species of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, but research on the biodiversity in the sanctuaries is sparse.
History
PaleolithicPaleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
, Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
and Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
stone tools have been found in the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai river
Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River , also known as the Si Sawat , is a river in western Thailand. It flows for about 380 kilometres through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang Districts of Kanchanaburi Province, where it merges with the Khwae Noi to form the Mae Klong River at Pak Phraek subdistrict.The famous...
valleys and parts of the sanctuary were inhabited by Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
man.
Since at least 700 years, the Dawna-Tenasserim
Tenasserim Hills
Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range is the geographical name of a mountain chain in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mountains form an effective barrier between Thailand and Burma in their northern and central region, extending to the Kra Isthmus into the Malay...
region has been home to Mon
Mon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
and Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
, but burial grounds in Thung Yai and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
have not been systematically researched yet.
The Thai name "Thung Yai Naresuan", on the one hand, refers to the "big field" (thung yai) or savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
in the centre of the sanctuary, on the other hand to King Naresuan
Naresuan
Somdet Phra Naresuan Maharat or Somdet Phra Sanphet II was the King of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1590 until his death in 1605. Naresuan was one of Siam's most revered monarchs as he was known for his campaigns to free Siam from Burmese rule...
, a famous Siamese
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
ruler who supposedly based his army in the area to wage war against Burma sometime during his reign of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
from 1590 until his death in 1605.
The Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
who live in the sanctuary call the savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
pia aethala aethea which may be translated as "place of the knowing sage". It refers to the area as a place where ascetic
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
hermits called aethea have lived and meditated and may do so even today. The Karen in Thung Yai regard them as holy men important for their history and identity in Thung Yai and revere them in a specific cult.
Historical sources as well as local oral traditions suggest that settlement of Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
in Thung Yai - on a bigger scale - did not occur before the second half of the 18th century. At that time, due to political and religious persecution in Burma, predominantly Pwo-Karen from the hinterlands of Moulmein and Tavoy migrated into the area northeast of the Three Pagodas Pass
Three Pagodas Pass
The Three Pagodas Pass is a pass in the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Burma , at an altitude of above sea level....
, where they received formal settlement rights from the Siamese
Siamese
Siamese most commonly refer to:*The Thai language*The Thai people*Someone or something from Thailand: see Siam *Siamese *Siamese twinsAmongst animals:*Siamese Crocodile*Siamese mud carp...
Governor of Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi Province
- History :Archaeology found in Kanchanaburi dates back to the 4th century which proves of trade with surrounding countries even in that time. Very little is also historically known about the actual Khmer influence in Kanchanaburi but there is evidence of their occupation with Prasat Muang Singh –...
.
Sometime between 1827 and 1839 the Siamese King Rama III established this area as a principality (mueang
Mueang
Mueang were historical semi-independent city-states or principalities in present-day Thailand, Laos, parts of northern Vietnam and the Shan State of Myanmar. Smaller Mueang were subordinate to more powerful neighboring Mueang, which in turn were subordinate to the central king, as described in...
) and the Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
-leader who was governing the principality received the Siamese title of nobility Phra Si Suwannakhiri.
During the second half of the 19th century, this Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
-principality at the Burmese border became particularly important for the Siamese King Rama V (Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
) in his negotiations with the British colonial power in Burma regarding the demarcation of their western border with Siam.
In the beginning of the 20th century, when the modern Thai nation state
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
was established, the Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
in Thung Yai lost their former status and importance. During the first half of the 20th century, external political influences were minimal in Thung Yai and the Karen communities were highly autonomous regarding their internal affairs. This changed in the second half of the 20th century, when the Thai nation state
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
extended its institutions into the peripheral areas and the Karen re-appeared as chao khao or "hill tribes" on the national political agenda, as forest destroyers and illegal immigrants.
Plans to protect the forests and wildlife at the upper Khwae Yai
Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River , also known as the Si Sawat , is a river in western Thailand. It flows for about 380 kilometres through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang Districts of Kanchanaburi Province, where it merges with the Khwae Noi to form the Mae Klong River at Pak Phraek subdistrict.The famous...
and Khwae Noi river grew in the mid-1960s. Due to strong logging and mining interests in the area, it was not before 1972 that the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
could be established, and regarding Thung Yai resistance was even stronger. However, in April 1973 a military helicopter crashed near Thung Yai and revealed an illegal hunting party of senior military officers with family members, businessmen, and a film star, arousing nationwide public outrage which finally led to the fall of the Thanom-Prapas Regime after the uprising of October 14, 1973. After this accident and under a new democratic government, the area finally could be declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1974. After the Military had taken over power once again in October 1976, many of the activists of the democracy movement fled into peripheral regions of the country and some of them found refuge among the Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
living in Thung Yai.
During the 1960s, not only timber and ore but also the water of the western forests as hydroelectric power resources became of interest for commercial profit and national development. A system of several big dams was planned to produce electricity for the growing urban centres. On the Khwae Yai River
Khwae Yai River
The Khwae Yai River , also known as the Si Sawat , is a river in western Thailand. It flows for about 380 kilometres through Sangkhla Buri, Si Sawat, and Mueang Districts of Kanchanaburi Province, where it merges with the Khwae Noi to form the Mae Klong River at Pak Phraek subdistrict.The famous...
, the Si Nakharin Dam was finished in 1980 and the Tha Thung Na Dam in 1981, while the Khao Laem Dam (renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam
Vajiralongkorn Dam
Vajiralongkorn Dam, formerly named the Khao Laem Dam, is a concrete-face rock-fill dam in Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The dam lies across the Khwae Noi River and was renamed Vajiralongkorn Dam after Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on July 13, 2001...
) on the Khwae Noi river south of Thung Yai was completed in 1984. The Nam Choan Dam, the last of the projected dams, was supposed to flood a forest area of about 223 km² within the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary.
The public dispute about the Nam Choan Dam Project lasted for more than six years, dominating national politics and public debate in early 1988 before it was shelved in April that year. Pointing to the high value of Thung Yai for nature conservation and biodiversity, the opponents on the national and international level had raised the possibility of declaring the area a World Heritage Site. This prestigious option would have been lost with a huge dam and reservoir in the middle of the two wildlife sanctuaries most promising to meet the requirements for a global heritage.
After the dam project was shelved, the proposal to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
was written by two persons who had been outspoken opponents in the Nam Choan Controversy and, in December 1991, Thung Yai Naresuan together with the adjoining Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
was declared a Natural World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. In the nomination, the "outstanding universal value" of the two Wildlife Sanctuaries is, in first place, justified with their extraordinary high biodiversity due to their unique position at the junction of four biogeographic zones, as well as with its size and "the undisturbed nature of its habitats".
Even though the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
nomination explicitly emphasizes the "undisturbed nature" of the area, and notwithstanding scientific studies supporting traditional settlement and use rights of the Karen people
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
in Thung Yai as well as the sustainability of their traditional land use system and their strong intention to remain in their homeland and to protect it, the governmental authorities define the people living in Thung Yai as a threat to the sanctuary and pursue their resettlement.
Karen villages in Huai Kha Khaeng
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Thailand. It is located in the Provinces Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani. It was declared a World Heritage Site Site by the United Nations in 1991, together with the adjoining Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary...
have already been removed when the Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1972, and in the late 1970s the remaining communities in Huai Kha Khaeng had to leave when the Si Nakharin Dam flooded their settlement areas. During the 1980s and early 1990s, villages of the Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
ethnic minority group were removed from the Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuaries. The resettlement of the remaining Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
in Thung Yai was announced in the management plan for the sanctuary, drafted in the late 1980s, as well as in the proposal for the World Heritage Site. But, when the Thai Royal Forest Department tried to remove them in the early 1990s, it had to reverse the resettlement scheme due to strong public criticism. Since then, the authorities have used repression, intimidation and terror to convince the Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
to leave their homeland 'voluntarily', and concentrated on restrictions on their traditional land use system which will inevitably cause its breakdown and deprive the Karen of their subsistence.
Literature
Alongkot Chukaew (1998). Study on botanical knowledge of Karen communities in Thungyai Sanctuary. Bangkok: Wildlife Fund Thailand.Buergin, Reiner (2000). "Hill tribes and forests: Minority policies and resource conflicts in Thailand". SEFUT Working Paper 7, ISSN 1616-8062. Freiburg: University of Freiburg. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/WP_7e.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2001). "Contested heritages: Disputes on people, forests, and a World Heritage Site in globalizing Thailand". SEFUT Working Paper 9, ISSN 1616-8062. Freiburg: University of Freiburg. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/WP_9.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2002). "Change and identity in Pwo Karen communities in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, a 'Global Heritage' in Western Thailand". SEFUT Working Paper 11, ISSN 1616-8062. Freiburg: University of Freiburg. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/WP_11.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2003a). "Trapped in environmental discourses and politics of exclusion: Karen in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in the context of forest and hill tribe policies in Thailand". In: Claudio O. Delang (ed.) Living at the edge of Thai Society: The Karen in the highlands of northern Thailand, pp. 43-63. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-415-32331-2.
Buergin, Reiner (2003b). "Shifting frames for local people and forests in a global heritage: The Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in the context of Thailand's globalization and modernization". Geoforum 34,3: 375-393. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/Buergin03.pdf
Buergin, Reiner (2004). Umweltverhältnisse jenseits von Tradition und Moderne. Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag. ISBN 3-89821-392-7. http://www.sefut.uni-freiburg.de/pdf/DPub_web.pdf
Chan-ek Tangsubutra; Kulvadee Boonpinon; Mario Ambrosino (1995). "The traditional farming system of the Karen of Sanehpong village, Thung-Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand". In: H. Wood, M. McDaniel, K. Warner (eds.): Community development and conservation of forest biodiversity through community forestry, pp. 193-199. Bangkok: RECOFTC. ISBN 974-7315-90-4.
Delang, Claudio O.; Wong, Theresa (2006). "The livelihood-based forest classification system of the Pwo Karen in Western Thailand". Mountain Research and Development 26,2: 138–145.
Kulvadee Boonpinon (1997). Institutional arrangements in communal resource management: A case study of a Karen village in a protected area. M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University, Bangkok.
Seub Nakhasathien, Stewart-Cox, Belinda (1990). Nomination of the Thung Yai - Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary to be a U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Site. Bangkok: Royal Forest Department.
Steinmetz, Robert (1996). Landscape ecology and wildlife habitats: An indigenous Karen perspective in Thung Yai Wildlife Sanctuary of western Thailand. Bangkok: Wildlife Fund Thailand.
Steinmetz, Robert (1999). "The ecological science of the Karen in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Thailand". In: M. Colchester, C. Erni (eds.): From principles to practice: Indigenous peoples and protected areas in South and Southeast Asia, pp. 84-107. Copenhagen: IWGIA. ISBN 87-90730-18-6.
Steinmetz, Robert; Mather, Robert (1996). "Impact of Karen villages on the fauna of Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary: A participatory research project". Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 44: 23-40.
Steinmetz, Robert; Wanlop Chutipong; Naret Seuaturien (2006). "Collaborating to conserve large mammals in Southeast Asia". Conservation Biology 20,5: 1391-1401.
External links
- UNESCO website for the Thungyai - Huai Kha Khaeng World Heritage Site
- Location and data for the Wildlife Sanctuary Thung Yai Naresuan in the World Database on Protected Areas of UNEP and IUCN
- Information regarding ethnic minority people living in the sanctuary
- Pictures from Thung Yai
- Information on the Western Forest Complex
- Western Forest Conservation Club