Dam project jeopardises tiger revival

Thailand risks breaking world summit promise

Bangkokpost, Published: 26/04/2012 at 01:56 AM ... 

Thailand risks violating its commitment to protect and double its population of tigers by 2022 if the government builds a dam in the backyard of the country's second-largest community of the endangered felines.

The Mae Wong dam is set to be constructed in Nakhon Sawan's Mae Wong National Park, part of the country's western forest complex where the government is supposed to increase the number of tigers to 400.

Anak Pattanavibool, the Country Programme Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said a dam inside the national park will have a huge negative impact on the big cats.

The tiger population worldwide has plummeted from 100,000 to 3,200.
Thailand, along with 12 other countries, signed a declaration at the World Tiger Summit held in Russia in 2010 to double the global tiger population to 7,000 by 2022.

Mr Anak said an official study team found positive signs of increasing numbers of tigers in the national park.

"Mae Wong National Park is considered the second home for tigers [in the country], after Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary where the population is densest. We have seen strong evidence from satellite microchips, and we also found that some tigers in Mae Wong national park have migrated from Huai Kha Khaeng," he said.

Since Mae Wong National Park is part of the country's tiger population management plan, Mr Anak believes building a dam there will ruin the habitat's potential to support growth in their numbers.

"If the dam is constructed, it will destroy everything, including Thailand's reputation for wildlife preservation," Mr Anak said.

He noted that the park serves as a buffer zone for the Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuary, a world heritage site. Any activity that could disturb the ecology there should be studied carefully.

The cabinet recently agreed in principle on the construction of the 13 billion baht Mae Wong dam, the reservoir of which will inundate 13,260 rai of fertile forest inside the park.

The project is intended to relieve local villagers from drought and flood.

The Royal Irrigation Department is expected to complete a health and environmental impact assessment study for the project in July.

A senior source at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the project will have a huge impact on the ecological system and on wildlife in the park.

He added that environmental impact could be mitigated if the dam site is moved away from the park to areas where locals live. The government, however, rejected the alternative.

"As state officials, we can't do anything against the government's policy. We can only do our best to limit the impact," said the source.

Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, the environment minister, said he looked forward to working with the Irrigation Department to explore the potential site for the dam. The ministry will make its decision after the project is approved by the national environment board.

"If the project brings positive benefits to the country and can prevent floods, we will allow it to go ahead," he said.

Meanwhile, Pisit Tiyasomboon, chief of Mae Wong National Park, said he has been contacted by the Irrigation Department as the dam's reservoir is expected to flood his office.

"I have not seen any document regarding the dam project or where it will be located. So I can't tell the Irrigation Department yet where I should move. Moreover, there is no policy from my department on what to do in this situation," Mr Pisit said.

Mae Wong is one of the few national parks in the country with no people living inside it.
"It is a part of one of the best forest complexes in Asean," Mr Pisit said.

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