Conservation Partners Need your Help

MAP, in partnership with Naucrates, have established a Coastal Community Resource Center (CCRC) in Ban Lion Village on Phra Thong Island. Take a moment to read their special appeal, and if you can, please consider donating or helping to spread the word.

The effectiveness of Andaman Discoveries requires cooperation from many partners at the grassroots level, including the communities, NGOs, and sustainable enterprises. Two organizations that have been essential to conservation successes in this remarkable area of Thailand are the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and Naucrates Sea Turtle Conservation.

These organizations need your support to help preserve the extraordinary biodiversity found within coastal ecosystems of the North Andaman region of Thailand. This area is increasingly threatened by unsustainable natural resource exploitation and development, the impacts of which not only affect the unique natural flora and fauna of the area, but the local fishing communities as well. A very real need exists for increased environmental awareness and education at the local level to create and secure sustainable livelihoods.

Labels: Ban Lion, conservation, Mangrove Action Project, Naucrates

Youth in Action Final Seminar

It was the belief of Thomas Jefferson that every generation needs a new revolution, and for the past year Youth in Action for Next Generations (YNG) strived to make sustainability a key issue for the next one. This global project, organized by Pistes-Solidaires, actively united young people from both developed and developing countries in sustainable development projects. In Thailand, Andaman Discoveries collaborated with Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to create a network of ten youth groups in the North Andaman region.

Andaman Discoveries hosted the final meeting in November 2009, which summarized the various outcomes and was attended by NGOs from the eight participating countries. “The project helped strengthen and broaden networking and participation amongst the youth along the North Andaman Coast,” said Jaruwan “Ning” Kaewmahanin of MAP. The group reflected on their environmental and natural resource management experiences and community development project implementation.

Labels: IUCN, Mangrove Action Project, youth conservation, Youth in Action for Next Generations

Villagers Experience First-Hand Training

The village of Ban Lion on Koh Phratong became a real-life classroom for two days in June. Built after the tsunami, Ban Lion is a collective of people from many different villages and cultures, yet they live together harmoniously.

We held a training and pilot tour on how to manage and develop activities for tourists, with help from the Mangrove Action Project. The villagers’ enthusiasm was encouraging...

“A place is about the people. The people of the Ban Lion Village made the experience. The guides and homestay hosts exuded an enthusiasm that cannot be imitated. Their pride and willingness to share their way of life was remarkable,” said Program Development Manager Mimi Cheung.

Ban Lion is surrounded by a fertile mangrove forest and swamp forest, and the villagers take pride in the biodiversity in and around their village. There are marine animals such as sea turtles, dugong, and dolphins. Bird watchers rejoice at the abundant avian offerings, including the rare lessor adjutant stork.

Ban Lion Village was built with the support of Lions Club International for tsunami-affected people from several villages on Koh Prathong, including Pak Jok Village, which was totally destroyed. The ultimate goal of the training is to promote development of community-based tourism. “By sharing their lifestyle and the jewel of Koh Phratong, the villagers pride increases as well as their motivation to preserve the place they call home,” said team member Leslie Welshimer.

Koh Phratong’s stunning environment has made it a focus of conservation groups like Naucrates and Mangrove Action Project (MAP). Andaman Discoveries, North Andaman Community Tourism Network (N-ACT) and MAP (Mangrove Action Project) collaborated to offer the training for Ban Lion village in June (with funding support provided by the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism).

Jeannine Curd, volunteer English teacher and pilot tour participant, said, “I feel honored to have been a part of the first group to come to this village on a CBT program. The people were all very helpful.”

Jaruwan Kaewmahanin (Ning), Thailand Field Project Manager for MAP, said, “Ban Lion is unique because it is a collective of people from many different villages and cultures, yet they can live in a harmonious way.”

Read Leslie Welshimer’s pilot-tour participant story.

Labels: Ban Lion, biodiversity, community tourism, Koh Phratong, Mangrove Action Project, Pak Jok Village

N-ACT Group Management Training

Nineteen people from six area villages took part in a group management training to help define current status of tourism in their village and learn how to work in a team. Expert facilitation was provided by Mangrove Action Project, with support from the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism.

Villagers from the North Andaman Region came together for three days in June with one common goal: to learn how to most effectively manage their CBT programs. The first day of the training allowed for everyone to get to know each other, understand each other’s communities and individual CBT programs. The villagers who participated in the training at Kuraburi Resort are from Tung Dap, Ban Talae Nok, Ton Kloy, Ban Na, Ban Lion, and Had Phrapat.

Bodhi Garrett, founder of N-ACT and Andaman Discoveries, kicked off the meeting by stating, “Think of your CBT -- where it is now and where you want it to go.” Participants learned how to work in a team and manage meetings. Nattaya “Nat” Sektheera, N-ACT program manager, said, “Villagers departed the training, confident, with new knowledge and an understanding of how to manage a meeting within their CBT programs.”

Labels: CBT, Mangrove Action Project, North Andaman Region