Guidelines for Forest Fire Management in Community Forest at Mae Pong Sub-district, Doi Saket District, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

Factors were analyzed influenced forest fires, forest fire management, the level of community participation and knowledge about forest fires in Mae Pong Sub-district, Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province. The objective was to establish guidelines for the development of wildfire management. Data were collected based on interviews with 320 samples from a population of 1,598 households, with the sample number determined based on Yamane (1973). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, SWOT analysis and the TOWS matrix.

The study found that the primary cause of forest fire was its spread from agricultural land preparation by farmers around community forests (86.60%). Community forest fire management involved prevention, readiness for extinguishing fires, fire detection, fire suppression and performance evaluation, while overall community participation in forest fire management was minimal, with an average score of 1.84. All three aspects of planning, operations and monitoring and evaluation were low level, with average scores of 1.79, 1.92, and 1.82, respectively. Overall understanding of forest fires was at a moderate level, (64.30%). Four approaches for the development of participatory forest fire management identified were: 1) Training to enhance community knowledge in forest fire theory and basic practices; 2) Developing management plans and measures related to forest fires; 3) Enhancing public relations in all forms; and 4) Developing monitoring and evaluation of community activities.