5 geographical sit e is a low hill surrounded by w et areas or bet w een t w o rivers. And last ly, t he
Large M ount ain Top regarded as sacred and w hich no one dares t o ent er because it is believed t o have been t he rout e used by t he ancest ors.
b. Areas wit h ancient ruins - These ruins include t he desert ed m onast ery and ancient burial sit es such as: Wav qavhkof desert ed t em ple hill t op
believed t o be a sacred land w it h m any st ories and legends on it ; And Gujkloht af, or ‘m iracle m ount ain-Huay Nam Ngu w at er m erge’. The t erm
m iracle is used because w hen one approaches t he m ount ain, you w ill see a m ount ain clearly being t here but w hen you are act ually in t here, you won’t see t he m ount ain but t he plain field.
The villagers believe t here is a t reasure under t his mount ain guarded by a spirit . The villagers t hen have t o be careful w hen passing by or ent ering t he area so as not t o dist urb t he t reasurer.
c. Holy forest for rit ual pract ice are areas found in M ae Lan Kham and could be generally classified as follow s:
Pgajt ajw ijdof Bad occurrence breaking rit ual
- t he villagers have t old t his st ory from generat ion t o generat ion about very fright ening forest ghost s in long st anding banyan t rees. If t here w ere
som e m iscarriages or deat h of a new born child, t he villagers w ould bury t he child in a banyan t ree t unnel believing t hat t he t ree spirit w ould adopt t he child. They also put w hit e t hread r olls
around t he t ree signifying t he m ot her’s breast s from w hich t he banyan gum resin also colored w hit e w ould be used by t he t ree t o feed t he child.
Pgaj Dei Pau um bilical cord child navel forest - t his t ype of forest surrounds t he village and serves as a place w here t he
um bilical cord of a new -born child is t ied on a t ree. It is believed t hat
t he soul of t he child w ould st ay w it h t he t ree, t herefore prohibit ing anyone from cut t ing it dow n.
PgazSw afhkof funeral forest cemet ery - serves as t he sit e for burying or burning t heir dead in t he com m unit y.
Because of t he funeral forest cemet ery est ablished by t he villagers, it paved t he w ay for t he area t o be ordained and declared as a w ildlife species conservat ion area.
There w as a big forest ordinat ion rit ual t o grow 50 m illion t rees on t he com m em orat ion of t he King’s
50 years on t he t hrone anniversary. Ban Sob Lan st art ed first on t he st ream near t he village by m arking 50 m et ers in lengt h zones along t he st ream as conservat ion area in w hich ‘no cat ching
of w at er species’ is enforced. The declarat ion on t he area rest rict ing w ild species hunt ing is under preparat ion.
2. Strategies for Adaptation on Natural Resource M anagement Using Low Carbon Technique
a. St rat egy for Adapt at ion on Nat ural Resource M anagem ent or t he process of low carbon t echniques
The pract ical exam ples of rot at ional farm ing are: t echnique for cut t ing dow n t he t rees by leaving a m et er-high st um p, and cut t ing dow n t w igs but keeping t he t ree st anding; building fire-
break zones t o prevent t he fire from expanding t o t he nat ural forest and it s surroundings. This pract ice has already been im m ort alized in t heir t radit ional poem , ’cross w at er looking for
shallow w at er flow ; cont rol fire burning, one needs t o look for narrow landscape‘. The pract ice serves as a process t o reduce carbon release by grow ing a variet y of plant s in t he rot at ional
farm ing process.
6 Last but not least , t he concept s, philosophies, and spirit ual beliefs behind t he rot at ional farm ing
pract ice all help achieve low carbon usage. Rot at ional farm ing prom ot es t he self-sufficiency philosophy and builds t he spirit ual values on respect ing and carefully ut ilizing nat ural resources.
b. St rat egy for rest oring t he fallow s t o increase t he diversit y of t he plant species and product ivit y of t he rot at ional farm ing.
The crucial part of low carbon process of t he rot at ional farm ing is t o leave t he fallow s t o nat urally rest ore t hem selves. The process of rest orat ion has been found t o subst ant ially absorb
carbon. Ot her research findings include t hat Som sak Sookw ong 2012 observed t hat m ost of t he plant food subst ances cam e from t he t ree t han from t he soil below it . When t he t runk is
burnt , t he food subst ance w ould be released. A sim ilar observat ion w as also m ade by Zinke 1978 w ho found t hat t he m ajor food subst ances t hat feed t he fallow s cam e from t he t rees
w hich sprang back t o life in t he fallow . The t rees in t he fallow are able t o st ore t he carbon and build up various kinds of food subst ances all of w hich cent ered at t he fert ilit y of t he t rees in t he
fallow . c. St rat egy of spreading P’dav Taw Tao t ree - seeds in t he fallow t o build up food subst ances
and increase product ivit y. P’dav is a fast grow ing kind of t ree w it h plent y of w ide leaves w hich effect ively fuel t he fire. Aft er being burnt dow n, it s ash serves as a source of fert ilizer, and rice
or crops grow n on it w ould yield high am ount of produce. As it is a fast grow ing plant , it s carbon absorpt ion is fast er t han ot her kinds of t ree.
d. Rest orat ion of soil in t he fallow by adding up t he bam boos - from different experiences, if t he fallow s are covered w it h bam boos, t he fallow s could becom e fert ile w it hin five years inst ead of
7 t o 10-year period. M oreover, t he bam boo can increase t he product ivit y of cult ivat ed crops. In addit ion, grow ing bam boo in t he rot at ional farm ing process w ould surely becom e part of low
carbon procedure. e. A t rial of new slashing t echniques t o open t he field fast er and anot her for m ore efficient soil
fert ilizat ion are being t est ed. From direct experiences of M ae Lan Kham farm ers, t hey report ed t hat at one t im e t hey slashed t he land t o grow rice but left t he land uncult ivat ed for one year. In
t he year aft er, t hey slashed t he grass out t o grow rice. They found lat er t hat t he rice grew very w ell. At t he end of t he harvest ing period, t he rice yield subst ant ially increased. They relat ed t he
product ivit y w it h t he fact t hat t he leaves left over from t he st ash had form ed int o fert ilizer in result ing t o bet t er soil product ivit y and fert ilit y.
f. The adapt at ion on organizing t he act ivit ies for environm ent m anagem ent focusing on low carbon st rat egies t o earn incom e e.g. project on seeding and grow ing rat t an m ore in forest and
cult ivat ing areas; project on seeding and grow ing t he Zant hozylumlimonella Alst on scient ific nam e also know n by t he local nam e Prickly Ash or Sichuan pepper; nat ural beekeeping and w ild
plant s gat hering for food and incom e generat ion. Hpat ijTajyaiv suggest ed t he slogan, “ We t ake care of t he forest so t hat t he forest w ill t ake care of us. If t he forest is w ell t aken care of and
rest ored, t he food sources w ill be plent iful. We t hen depend less on out side support and can also help solve t he problem of global w arm ing.” The suggest ion m ade by t he leader reflect s t he
process of forest m anagem ent and int erdependence bet w een t he inhabit ant s and t he resources, im plying less carbon usage.
