Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the 205 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand Sabah Objectives: To rehabilitate mangrove forests encroached illegally by oil palm plantations and shrimp ponds, and to enhance ecosystem recovery Forestry approach: Reforestation Habitats: Cleared and bunded degraded mangrove sites Choice of species: Rhizophora in tidal sites, Terminalia on bund tops, Rhizophora and Nypa in abandoned shrimp ponds Planting technique: Line, random and cluster planting of propagules, seeds, seedlings and stem cuttings Implementation: Planting by contractors, supervised by the Mangrove Task Force of SFD 6. Project Performance Based on 10 criteria (accessibility, collaboration, objectives, costs, publicity, capacity building, voluntary participation, community participation, conservation awareness and sustainability), we conducted a simple performance evaluation of our three projects (Table 1). Tawara scores moderately in a l l criteria, except for accessibility due to its remoteness in the Pacific and difficulty in inter-island travel. Gujarat scores strongly in community participation and project costs, but weakly in publicity, capacity building and sustainability. It is very unlikely that the local NGO will be able to sustain the project after ISME. Sabah scores strongly in accessibility, collaboration, publicity, capacity building, voluntary participation and sustainability, but weak in community participation and project costs. However, a substantial part of the project costs such as salaries, subsistence and transportation of project personnel are borne by SFD. Two four-wheel drive vehicles have been assigned to the project. Under the second phase of the project, SFD has allocated USD 156,000 in addition to the logistics and manpower provided. 7. Conclusion Ranking of the three projects based on overall performance is Sabah > Tarawa ~ Gujarat. We are of the view that one should not over-emphasize on the importance of community participation, as it is only one of the criteria used for project evaluation. There are other important criteria that one should consider e.g. effective collaboration, meeting project objectives, capability building and project sustainability. With government support, the ability of the collaborating agency to continue with the project without external funding and without the technical assistance from ISME is most crucial. The following issues need to be addressed when initiating and implementing a mangrove rehabilitation project involving participation of the local community: Obtain t h e endorsement o f t h e government Seek a competent person among the local community to manage the proj-ect activities Convey ideas to the local people through the head of the community Get the support and collaboration from the local community Provide information to the villagers to enhance their awareness of the project Continue to support the community Maintain project motivation and that of the community
Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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