Land use change factors and forest protection guidelines in Huai Yang Waterfall National Park, Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to compare the land use in Huai Yang Waterfall National Park, Prachuab Khiri Khan, during 1994-2015, and to recommend the forest-protection guidelines for that area.To study the changes of land-use, it was done by interpreting the aerial photos and collecting the questionnaires from the relevant officials and people living nearby the area. It was found that the forest area was 123,517 rais in 1994, but it decreased to 115,325 rais (65.64%) in 2015. Most of the decreased areas (9,780 rais) became the agricultural area, 688 rais became the water-storage, 94 rais were used for buildings, and another 77 rais for road-constructions; it were 7.92, 0.56, 0.08, and 0.06%respectively. In studying of economic and social dimensions by questionnaires, 86.67% of the samples of relevant officials agreed that their organizations lacked of competency, especially on safety and security devices. 49.57% of the samples of people living nearby the area agreed that the organization related with forest conservation should improve the quality of its working system to be more responsive and effective. According to the analysis on physical, economic and social conditions, eight guidelines on forest protections were recommended as followings: 1)Developing the working potentials of relevant officials; 2)Improving the quality of working system to be more responsive and effective; 3)Participating in the resource management for both organization and people living nearby the area; 4)Specifying the appropriate legal penalties; 5) Checking and authenticating the landownership of people living nearby the area; 6) Rearranging the forest zones according to its risk levels; 7)Increasing the relevant officials; and 8)Clarifying the border of the National Park.