REVIVAL OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR FOOD SECURITY IN THA CHALAEB COMMUNITY, BANG KAJA SUB-DISTRICT, MUANG CHANTABURI, CHANTABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study people’s participation in environmental conservation of estuarine ecosystems in Tha Chalaeb and to study the methods of community participation with all parts of the organizational network in reviving estuarine community resources and environment for food security. The study utilizes the CIPP and RBM models for the conceptual framework used in the research. The data collection were used both In-depth interviews and focus-group with key informants – consisting of village heads, local leaders, interest or community groups leaders, and project officers – were employed to gather direct experience in their respective responsibilities and from the general local conditions. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, and a questionnaire survey of local leaders, household heads and the people of Tha Chalab involved in the project totaling 137 households was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.

The results indicated that village heads and locals of the community established a committee to process and work with volunteer groups, Krathing Daeng (Red Bull) company staff, and various students groups from many educational institutions who participated in activities such as planting mangroves, creating artificial reefs, and rejuvenating fish and crab habitats. Over the past two years of the projects’ progress, the local community had seen real change, including that the mangrove trees had grown significantly, there was more species variety in the estuarine forest regime, and marine animal species variety had obviously increased in the rejuvenated fish and crab habitats, forexample a range of fish species, shrimp, crabs, mollusks, etc.