The dissertation, entitled “Buddhism-integrated Approaches to Sustainable Conservation of Forest” has the following objectives: 1) to study the concepts of forest conversation according to King’s wisdoms and the current problems of community forests in Ban Kraudand Prakhonchai District, Buriram Province, 2) to study topics in Buddhadhamma related to forest conservation, 3) to propose a Buddhism-integrated approach to sustainable conservation of forest. This dissertation was a qualitative study and presented in an analytico-descriptive prose.
The study of the concepts of forest conversation according to King’s wisdoms and the current problems of community forests in Ban Kraud and Prakhonchai District, Buriram Province revealed that King’s wisdoms, especially those of water management, have been employed in the current forest conservation, and the current problems in the local forests involved illegal encroachment of forests for farmland, forest products, and timber harvesting. These problems are currently compromised and negotiated based on the agreement of the local community.
Buddhadhamma’s topics relevant to forest conservatioin include the Threefold Learning (Sikkhattaya), the Five Precepts (Panjasila), the Moral Fear and Shame (Hiri-Otappa). The Threefold Learning provides the conceptual structure for establishing rules, planning, providing wisdoms for a community to follow the agreed rules. The Five Precepts are a financial and vital assurance that everyone in the community will work together to find and adhere to the agreements in forest conservation. Finally, Moral Fear and Shame will create consciousness among people, so that they will not violate the agreement and work together toward sustainable use of forest resources.
Buddhism-integrated Approaches to Sustainable Conservation of Forest consist of three main approaches. First, “The Threefold-Learning Approach” employs the Precept (sila) as a framework for establishing rules and agreements, the Concentration (samadhi) as a way to fixate everyone on solving the problems and maintaining the condition of the forests, and the wisdom (pañña) as an analytical tool to find roots and concrete solutions for their problems. Second, “the Five-Precept Approach” dictates the guidelines for the conservation, in which people will not kill animals, steal forest product, lie, harvest timber for sale, or use woods for alcoholic beverages. They will also together come up with agreements that integrate Buddhadhamma with local traditions for sustainable uses and monitoring of the forest. Third, “The Moral Fear and Shame Approach” plants the consciousness within people’s mind to have same and fear for violating the rules, which leads to avoidance of wrong-doings in the forest conservation.
