The Study of the Socio-Economic Conditions of the Communities in Mangrove Forest in Changwat Chanthaburi

Abstract

The purpose is to study the living condition, the economic status, the concern with the mangrove forest resource and the Knowledge about the ecosystem and to investigate the attitude of the inhabitants on the value of the mangrove forest. It is discovered that more than half of the head of households had the age less than 50 Years, the working age. The level of education is grade four that is too low to understand the ecosystem or the conservation of natural resource. Knowledge about fishes in the mangrove forest is from their own experience which is scarcely true. The most use of the Mangrove forest resource is timber for burning as charcoal, firewood and log. Knowledge about the ecosystem more than half of the head of the households know well; two third number know that the lavae live in mangrove forest and one third know that the mangrove forest is nutrition source of fishes. The degree of knowledge about mangrove ecosystem related to the occupation, the man who cut the timber know much, the traders and employees know less, the fisherman and the shrimp raising occupation know half in number. About the conservation of the mangrove forest most people notice the reduction of the forest and the fish in 20 years. About the government’s control in cutting timber more than half think that they get no benefit. The other half thinks that the controlling has good effect on the inhabitants especially for the coastal fisherman. Many opinions during the investigation were very fruitful to the government.