— FINAL REPORT —

Community Environmental Management
and
Poverty Reduction in South East Asia

—— Thailand Urban Greening Project ——

Glossary

Baht—Thai Currency, 100 Baht = approximately $4.00 Cdn.
Bangkapi—Buddhist community where this project has worked
Bangkok Noi—Moslem community where this project has worked.
BMA—Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the highest level of government in Thailand’s Capital.
ICSC—International Centre for Sustainable Cities, northern partner.
Keht—Bangkok is divided in 50 municipal-like local governments called Kehts.
TEI—Thailand Environment Institute, southern partner.

Background

In response to poor environmental conditions in Thailand's capital, in 1998 Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) contacted the International Centre for Sustainable Cities (ICSC) to collaborate on an "urban greening" project. This collaboration is now at the end of its first year. As the time of writing work in nearing completion on a proposal for funding for an additional year that will build on the lessons learned and activities of the past year. It will be submitted for consideration on April 1st, 2001.

Purpose

Impact of Project:
to use community participation to address urban environmental problems through urban greening.

To achieve this TEI and ICSC have worked with two communities in Bangkok in order to establish community working groups and have helped the working groups evaluate local environmental problems. The working groups designed a "green" plan to address these problems, and implemented and monitored their green plan.

Outputs and Outcomes
build community capacity to address their own environmental problems.
reduce poverty.
develop links between communities and local governments.
improve status of women.
develop a model that other communities can follow to conduct urban greening projects

Chronology of Major Activities

March and April 2000—met with communities and local government officials in Keht Bankok Noi and Keht Bangkapi (Bangkok is made up of 50 Kehts, which represent the local government).

Planning
May 21st 2000—Primary Education workshop. Attended by 50 people this one day event brought together community members, Keht officials, urban planners and representatives from local agricultural college. Topics covered included urban environmental problems, how-to conduct an urban greening program, and the care of trees in the city. A booklet was produced for this event and is included.

June 2000—Planning days in each community. TEI & ICSC, together with an urban planner from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) met with the communities to inventory existing green space, identify local environmental problems, establish goals, and design an action plan.

Implementation
July 2000—Site Preparation. With help (in the form of labour and equipment) from the BMA and the Keht, the communities prepared the sites for planting. In the case of Bangkok Noi this included moving many tones of broken concrete and leveling the land. In Bangkapi a large area had to have major weeds removed and the ground dug and fertilized (using organic fertilizer supplied by the Keht).

August 12, 2000—Planting day in Bangkok Noi. In honour of the Queens Birthday, trees and shrubs were planted at Bangkok Noi. The Deputy Permanent Secretary for the BMA (one of Bangkok’s most senior civil servants) attended, planting a number of trees.

September 17, 2000—Planting day at Bangkok Noi.
Monitoring & Additional Education

October 6/7, 2000—Youth Activity Day. A one day workshop was held in both communities that taught the youth (ages 6-12) how to tend and care for the trees and plants that were established on the planting days.

November 26, 2000—Training of community leaders and (older) youths. In the morning community leaders and youths from each community attended lectures by an urban landscape specialist from the BMA. In the afternoon the entire group visited both communities to assess the on-going urban greening projects.

December—follow up. TEI staff monitored the progress of the communities’ green plans. Work stopped for the month of Ramadan in Bangkok Noi, a Moslem community. In Bangkapi the community established 10 gardens. While some families used the produce of the garden, others sold their produce at the roadside, netting approximately 2,000 Baht per garden plot ($80 Cdn.) This money has been put in a common pool to pay for seeds and other materials and to support community functions in the future.

January 9, 2001—Community working groups visited organic agriculture demonstration project in the province of Sin Buri. There the working groups learned how to produce their own organic fertilizer and pesticides, and how to manage income from the community garden. Mr. Prasert, a landscape architect, worked with the communities to develop plans

January 18, 2001—Presentation to school teachers in Bangkok Noi from the BMA on using urban green space as an area for learning. The school in Bangkok Noi has become interested in establishing a student-run garden in the area adjacent to where the trees have been planted.

March 3, 2001—Final Workshop. Attended by over 100 people this workshop brought together government officials, community members, urban planners, and representatives of communities that may be targeted for Phase II of this project. A booklet was prepared as an educational tool for this workshop. It is included with this report.

Results and Indicators

Outcome 1. Establishing an Urban Green Plan
This primary goal was successfully completed. Both communities formed working groups, assessed environmental problems in their communities, developed an action plan an have implemented the plan. Bankok Noi now has a large field planted with shade trees; six months after planted all the trees have survived and the community has established a maintenance schedule. The adjacent primary school has plans to develop a student-run vegetable garden adjacent to the trees. Bankok Noi has established a very successful community garden that is generating income for the community that has made their urban greening plan self-financing.

Outcome 2. Community Capacity Building
Each community has developed a cohesive and well functioning group. In Bangkok Noi one gentlemen, when asked what TEI should focus on in the next phase of this project, said that the most important aspect of this project was building “power in the community.”  This was the first time the community of Bangkok Noi worked together on a community project, and the first environmental initiative that they had ever undertaken. In Bangkapi an elder member of the working group, when asked what was the best part of this programme, said that he had stopped drinking and felt that he had a renewed sense of purpose in his community thanks to his contribution to the community garden.

Outcome 3. Poverty Reduction
Bangkapi has established a vibrant community garden.  There is room for 10 plots, each of which has the potential to generate 2,000 Baht/month ($80 Cdn).  In an area where the average family income is only $400 Cdn a month a garden plot can add 20% to a family’s income.  While some of the families consume the produce, others have come together and with help from other families who do not have plots themselves, sell vegetables and herbs by the road.  This money is pooled and used for community projects.  This money helped pay for the hospital stay of one community member.

Outcome 4. Links with Government
This project has benefited from good support from both the local keht officials as well as from the BMA. Between these two levels of government well over 100 person days of labour have been contributed. In additional this project has found a firm ally in the senior civil service. Ms. Nathaton, the Deputy Permanent Secretary has provided regular guidance, attended workshops and helped plant trees one day. One difficulty that was encountered was that in the fall of 2000 the head of Keht Bangkok Noi changed. The new director is not as supportive as the previous director and the community working group has had difficulty in the last two months gaining support from their local administration.

Outcome 5. Status of Women
In Bangkapi, a Buddhist community, women and men are equally represented at all functions, and a woman is the treasurer of the working group. In Bangkok Noi, a Moslem community TEI staff have made concerted and regular efforts to ensure women participate in this project. Despite these efforts TEI staff estimates that women only participate in 30% of activities and there is only one woman on the working group. Ensuring that women play an active role in this project constitutes one of this project’s major challenges. Given that most TEI staff, including the project coordinator, are female, we feel that we are making progress on this goal, and that this project provides a good example to the people of Bangkok Noi.

Outcome 6. Developing a Model for Other Communities
To date TEI ICSC have developed a web site, a booklet and an “urban greening training manual” is nearing completion. All of these provide the necessary tools that would allow a community in Thailand to access the information they would need to meet local environmental problems. In addition a report on the health implications of urban greening was commissioned and is available on its own web page. As a result, there are as many as 50 communities that have either approached TEI staff or have been approached to become involved in this in subsequent years.

Difficulties Encountered

Difficulties fall into three categories:

Land Tenure
The land along the canal where Bangkok Noi’s community garden is planted is privately owned. As no (official) development can occur within 5m of canal bank this land could not be used by the landowner. A letter of agreement between the Keht, landowner and community was signed allowing the community to plant their garden. In December of 2000 the landowner contacted the community and indicated that he was no longer interested in supporting the project. At the time of writing there have been a number of letters, phone calls and meetings, including a letter drafted by ICSC and signed by CIDA, thanking the land owner for his support and urging him and his wife to continue providing access to their land. This problem seems to have receded for now. The issue of land tenure will, however, always be a problem. Fundamentally this project is about providing the urban poor with access to green space to meet community needs. By definition the communities that this project is working with will not have formal access to land. As a result, problems of this sort are inevitable.

Community Participation
At times the communities’ interest in the project waned. Especially in Bangkok Noi, where incomes are higher and residents were busy with paid employment, it was difficult to sustain high levels of excitement or activity. To counter this TEI visited the areas regularly and organized frequent training workshops. This sort of project is really only appropriate in low-income communities where unemployment is high, and people have little access to green space. Given that the project in Bangkapi generated more community enthusiasm than in Bangkok Noi, in the future TEI/ICSC will be more careful to target very low income areas.

Government Support
In late 2000 the director of Khet Bangkok Noi changed. The original director had been involved in this project since the first visits and was an enthusiastic supporter. The new director has been less inclined to support this project. The community working group, for example, has tried to construct an interlocking brick walkway through the trees that they have planted but lacked the expertise to do this. The current director has not been helpful and the community working group feels that they may be being discriminated against because they are a Moslem minority.

Lessons Learned and Future Recommendations

At the time of writing work on the proposal for phase II is underway. This will be submitted to CIDA on April 1st. Based on the strengths and weaknesses of the current project, phase II will:
1. Maintain contact with Bangkok Noi, continue to monitor the community working group and ensure that the trees that are planted are maintained.
2. Work with Bangkapi and develop this community as a model urban greening plan where other communities can visit to see a living demonstration of community participation and environmental management.
3. Replicate this process in two new communities in the BMA and capitalize on existing energy and momentum.
4. Replicate this process in one additional community outside of Bangkok. This is to foster regional development across Thailand.
5. Continue to hold training workshops and materials.

These activities will specifically target low income communities and work to build alliances between communities and local governments.
 

Annexes

Annex 1. Role of Canadian Partner
ICSC provided financial coordination, was responsible for all English reporting, is the primary author of all proposals, designed the web page, and produced a newsletter. In addition, ICSC contributed to project design and implementation at all stages, though all of the day-to-day work was completed by TEI staff.

Annex 2. List of Public Engagement in Canada
1. Case study in United Nations Forestry Journal (abstract accepted, case study submitted)
2. Publication in Canadian environmental Journal, Environments (submitted for publication) 
3. Short article submitted to newspaper Guardian Weekly
4. Presentation on Health Impacts of Urban Greening to class of British Columbia student nurses
5. Report on Health Impacts of Urban Greening Web page
6. Newsletter produced by ICSC (in press)
7. Uban Greening Web page
8. Presentation to UBC's Asia Studies Dept. (forthcoming)

Annex 3. List of Materials Produced and Disseminated (in Thailand)
1. Education booklet on benefits of urban greening (included)
2. Manual "How to do urban greening." (included)