The “Bio-rights” program to support livelihoods in Ban Don Bay, Surat Thani Province, is slightly different from those “Bio-rights” projects implemented in Indonesia, Malaysia, Costa Rica, and Mali because of differences in the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the area. Project staff, BDCN and local communities agreed in a meeting that the micro-credits for supporting livelihoods should be turned into “revolving funds”. A group or community receiving a micro-credit has to clear the loan at the end of the contracting period to keep the funding sustainable. BDCN can rotate the funds to promote livelihoods in other communities, under the same stipulation that there be environmental conservation in those communities.For example, conservation, restoration and surveillance can be considered an activity that covers the interest payment on the loan. Each step of the strategy to implement the program to support livelihoods stressed capacity building in communities through participation of its members. Local academics met to determine if the proposed projects and conditions in the communities would yield solutions alleviating income poverty, as well as human poverty, by building capacity and learning processes. Examples of human poverty are the lack of opportunity to access fundamental resources, the lack of power to fairly negotiate over natural resources management, and the lack of recognition for local knowledge. 2.2 Develop community capacity by organizing training in various areas related to and affecting current and future quality of, e.g. accounting administration, summary of lessons learned, preparation and adaptation to climate changes. 3.) Mangrove co-management 3.1 Support and push for the establishment of the Ban Don Bay Coastal Resource Management Committee to serve as a mechanism for building cooperation among the state sector, private organizations, NGOs and community organizations in the management, conservation, restoration and dispute resolution among groups of stakeholders. 3.2 Building capacity and strength for community organizations and the Ban Don Bay Conservation Network by promoting forums for exchanges among Ban Don Bay communities, providing training on community rights in resource management, following up on national policies and strategic plans related to regional natural resources and environmental management, and working with local administrative organizations to pass local mandates regarding natural resources and environmental management with participation from local communities. 4) Local and national awareness raising 4.1 Develop instruments for campaigns and dissemination of the value and significance of Ban Don Bay and conduct conservation activities under the project with target groups from the local level to the general public by newsletters, exhibitions, websites and Facebook. 4.2 Campaign, generate knowledge and understanding about coastal resource conservation and mangroves in the Ban Don Bay area at both the community and provincial levels (Fig.6), i.e. organizing discussion forums, youth camps, mangrove planting activities on important occasions, by closely coordinating the work with state agencies involved. 232 Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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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