TY  - JOUR
T1  - Subsistence Fisheries and Local Opinion Towards Conservation Value of Peat Swamp Forest in Thailand
AU - Chesoh, Sarawuth AU - Sakset, Amphorn 
JO  - The Social Sciences
VL  - 9
IS  - 5
SP  - 351
EP  - 356
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1818-5800
DO  - sscience.2014.351.356
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=sscience.2014.351.356
KW  - ecosystems
KW  -habitat disturbance
KW  -protected area
KW  -rural livelihood
KW  -Wetland
AB  - Tropical peat swamp forests are unique ecosystems of Southeast 
  Asia were playing important
  functional roles in regulating hydrology, biological resources and maintaining 
  environmental stability. Thailand
  possesses approximately 55,500 ha but only 15% of peat swamp forests historical 
  distribution remains intact.
  This study aims to assess the quantity of fisheries utilization and resource 
  use within these forests, as a step
  towards the guideline establishing for their sustainable conservation. The results 
  revealed that total population
  living around and within peat swamp forest approximates 370,000 of which not 
  >1% engages in fishing. The
  main income, averaging 3,210 USD per household is derived from rubber, vegetables 
  and orchards. A fishery
  is a supplementary occupation, involving catching fish mainly during the rainy 
  season and aquaculture during
  the dry season. However, among extractable annual natural resource consumption, 
  wild-caught fishing provides
  a significant contribution of about 3,880 ton with a value of 5.6 million USD. 
  The most common edible fish
  species are snake-head, walking catfish, climbing perch, gourami and swamp eel. 
  The main barriers to adoption
  of resource conservation measures are undocumented land tenure; poverty and 
  unawareness generally lead
  to over-exploitation of resources. Encroachment, wildfire, development projects, 
  destructive fishing, wildlife
  hunting and wood scavenging have accelerated the deterioration in their ecosystems. 
  Sharing of environmental
  knowledge across communities and networks, improve local quality of life and 
  strengthening law enforcement
  in resource conservation are critical required.
ER  -