นวัตกรรมการอยู่ร่วมกันของชุมชนกับพื้นที่เขตอุทยานแห่งชาติสัตว์ป่า และพันธุ์พืชในอำเภอไทรโยค จังหวัดกาญจนบุรี

This research has the objective to investigate the factors facilitating the coexistence of communities with the wildlife and plant species conservation areas within Sai Yok National Park, Kanchanaburi Province; to develop innovations for such coexistence; and to promote and expand the implementation of these innovations. The research employed a participatory action research (PAR) design, engaging 27 co-researchers. Data were analyzed using content analysis and presented descriptively through narrative techniques.

The research results were found as follows;

1. The study identified four key factors that support the coexistence between communities and the national park’s conservation areas: 1) Socio-cultural factors – The strength of social capital within the community, including unity, strong social networks, mutual assistance, and the capacity to collectively negotiate effectively with external agencies. This also encompasses the role of strong and respected community leaders who possess vision, understand local issues, and can represent the community effectively in communication with relevant authorities. 2)Economic factors – Opportunities for economic activities that are linked to the national park without causing harm to natural resources, fair benefit-sharing from park management, and external economic support to reduce direct dependency on resources. 3) Legal and regulatory factors – Clarity and fairness of laws and regulations concerning park management, equitable and effective law enforcement, accessible channels for communication and conflict resolution, and support from government agencies in relevant areas. 4) Collaborative process factors – The presence of joint working mechanisms, effective communication, trust-building, mutual respect, shared goals, and adaptive problem-solving processes.

2.Innovations for Coexistence. Three forms of community-based innovations were developed to support coexistence: 1) State–community cooperation innovation – Formal agreements, known as “Community Forest Agreements,” which establish shared responsibilities for resource utilization and joint dispute resolution between the park and local communities. 2) Activity-based innovations for youth engagement – Initiatives such as “Forest Path Exploration in My Village”, “Headwater Forest Conservation in My Village”, and “Forest Market in My Village”, which foster environmental awareness among younger generations. 3) Network-based collaborative innovation – Establishment of a “Community Forest Council,” comprising representatives from various sectors, responsible for managing community forests and promoting forest conservation.

3.Strategies for Scaling Up Coexistence Innovations: To ensure long-term sustainability, five strategic directions were identified: 1) Experiential learning and knowledge codification – Distilling the success of Sai Yok into structured “knowledge packages,” practical “coexistence manuals,” and tangible “case studies” that clearly communicate concepts and processes. 2) Shared awareness and learning networks – Organizing discussion forums for knowledge exchange between Sai Yok stakeholders and other communities, and establishing an “open forest classroom” for study visits to experience actual community–forest interaction, thereby fostering a “forest guardians network.” 3) Capacity-building for future leadership – Developing new leaders among both park staff and community representatives through practice-oriented training programs (e.g., negotiation, mediation, and planning skills) and producing diverse, accessible, and engaging educational media. 4) Policy-driven empowerment – Strengthening community capacity through formal recognition, establishing community forest committees, allocating budgets and personnel, and integrating coexistence principles into local administrative development plans. 5) Ongoing lesson-learning – Establishing robust monitoring and evaluation systems to track the growth of the “forest of understanding” in each area, and continuously extracting lessons from all expansion sites to refine and sustain the coexistence model.