Economic Value Analysis of the Tree Bank Project At Ban Tham Sua Phetchaburi Province

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to: 1) analyse the economic viability of the Tree Bank Project in Baan Tum Sua, Petchaburi, by using primary data from interviewing the project’s president and its members, 2) study the project’s management and performance in order to examine Baan Tum Sua community’s past forest resource management that had been a community model for the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and 3) investigate the economic and social conditions of the Project was participants in terms of income and the change in social well-being. In addition, Baan Tum Sua Tree Bank participates in Low Emission Support Scheme (LESS) which was a greenhouse gas reduction project, therefore the research aimed to assess the value of carbon sequestration in wood from the project. Additionally, to assess the economic viability of the project through Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) at 0.05% discount rate (BAAC farmer interest rates). The study was based on the reference wood prices and baseline information of the tree planting promotion for long-term capital project done by Kasetsart university.

The results of the economic viability analysis and the value of carbon sequestration in wood were divided into 2 parts:  1) the benefit analysis of the ex-post evaluation from 2006-2018 showed the NPV and BCR of 16.501,392 Baht and 0.1695, respectively, 2) the long-term benefit analysis by applying the ex-post and ex-ante evaluation (2011–2041) indicates that NPV, BCR and IRR equal 725,556 Baht, 1.0236 and 5.20%, respectively. Thus, this tree bank project was economially viable in the long run. According to the results, the goverment and BAAC should continue the project and extend this successful tree bank model to other similar areas, especially the other deforested areas of the whole nation.