Abstract:
The objectives of this research were (1) to study the characteristics of the area of the Upper Nan watershed, (2) to study the folkways of communities in the Upper Nan watershed forest, (3) to study the characteristics of cultivation in the Upper Nan watershed forest, (4) to study the administrative and development processes in the Upper Nan watershed forest, (5) to study the impact of administration in the Upper Nan watershed forest, and (6) to study administration and development strategies in the Upper Nan watershed forest. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were conducted. The quantitative research population was classified into three groups: of there subdistricts.
The total research population comprised 11,538 people. The research sample consisted of 385 people, based on the Krejcie and Morgan method. Stratified sampling and sample random sampling were employed. Questionnaires were used for the quantitative method. The statistics used for data analysis were frequency, means, percentage and standard deviation. For the qualitative method, in-depth interviews of 25 upper watershed policy makers and 56 focus groups about upper watershed policy implementation were conducted. Analysis of the data used content analysis and in-depth interviews in accordance with theory.
The findings of this research were as follows:
(1) Most of the watershed forest is community forest which occurs in areas with steep slopes, hillsides and on border lines of villages and has been preserved in order to conserve the ecosystem of the watershed areas. (2) The lifestyles of the local people integrate the traditions and modern ways together. (3) People tend to cultivate a variety of crops and systematically plan their cultivation by following academic knowledge. However, following the trend of modern agriculture, the use of chemicals has been increasing. (4) The management of the Upper Nan watershed area has shown continuity of policy and aims to resolve all aspects of the problems affecting the forests, people, animals, soils, etc. of the Upper Nan watershed area. (5) The management of the Upper Nan watershed area has directly impacted government policy, the economy, society, and the well-being of people. (6) The administration development strategies developed from this research focused on the objective of the sustainable and mutually facilitating well-being of both the people and the forest of the Upper Nan watershed. This objective could be obtained by using effective laws and appropriate self-developed lifestyles as well as by using rules created by community participation. The accomplishments of this strategies could be derived by integrating the following 4 principle aspects included (6.1) All governmental organizations concerned should create the proper rules and regulations to facilitate the sustainable living of both the people and the forest (6.2) All the non-governmental organization should integrate their capacities to support the well-being of the people in the forest (6.3) The communities have to enhance the people conscious in preserving the forest (6.4) In the effective administration of the upper Nan watershed process, the administrators should balance the governmental policy to preserve the forest and the needs of the people to servive in the mentioned forest.