FACTOR AFFECTING COMMUNITY'S PARTICIPATION IN FOREST RESOURCE CONSERVATION: KLONGSAI VILLAGE, WANG NAM KHIAO SUB-DISTRICT, WANG NAM KHIAO DISTRICT, NAKHON RATCHASIMA PROVINCE

Abstract

The aim was to study social and economic conditions and related factors that affect the community's participation in forest conservation activities and to study problems and obstacles found. The study was conducted through quantitative and qualitative methods and the interview was the main method for collecting data. Sixty five families were selected. Data from the interview was recorded and analyzed by statistical software. Statistics used in the analysis process included percentage, mean, maximum, minimum, and chi-square; with statistical significance set at 0.05. Descriptive analysis was used to study problems and obstacles. It was found that most of the samples were male. The average age was 48 years. Almost all of them were immigrants and had graduated from primary school. The main career was growing crops. Factors that were statistically significant to community's participation in forest conservation activities were gender, education, benefit from forest use and the villager's attitude toward their leader. Problems and obstacles were caused by both villagers, e.g., they could not give all their best in forest conservation because they had to struggle for food and shelter, and government agencies, e.g., they were not sincere in helping villagers prolong their conservation campaign. The study indicated that in order to make the true understanding, the government agencies had to study community folk's way of life in every dimension in order to create suitable methods and strategies and to improve the life quality of the villagers. This would bring more of the population into the forest conservation activities and, finally, lead to the enduring forest conservation.