69
IV. Associate Awards
Thailand Key accomplishments over the period July 1 - December 31, 2006
The main accomplishments during this period include capacity-building in marine protected area management, construction and program development of the Kamphuan Community Learning
Center KCLC, waste management, and advances in village banking and community-based disaster management.
A week-long training program on co-management of marine protected areas was held in Ranong Province from Sept 18-25 for newly appointed members of the Laemson Marine Park Advisory
Committee PAC. The training was led by CRC and Asia Institute of Technology AIT in partnership with the DANIDA-supported Joint Management of Protected Areas Program and the
Department of National Parks. Approximately two dozen participants, representing local park staff and stakeholder representatives, discussed key concepts of co-management and how this
more participatory and transparent form of conservation governance can be carried out in Laemson National Park.
The workshop was followed in November by a seven-day study tour to Bunaken National Marine Park in Indonesia where co-management arrangements are well developed. A two-day debriefing
and planning workshop was held in Phuket upon their return on the 7-9th of November. Construction and furnishing of the KCLC was started in July and completed in December in time
for a high-level inauguration event on December 18. Pam Rubinoff, Virginia Lee and Khun Samruay led an effort to develop a vision, program and business plan for the Learning Center. A
three tier management structure is being developed: a Board of Directors who will provide general guidance, set policy and seek funding and endowments; a local Steering Committee that
will advise the Center Director on programming and management; and the Center Director who will manage Center activities and services and report to both the Steering Committee and Board.
Waste management and recycling activities continued during this period. This program element was initiated after recognizing that the communities in the project did not have a good waste
management program. The general approach was to: 1 create awareness through workshops and study tours, 2 develop community level waste management plans including recycling and
composting program, and 3 support implementation of recycling and composing activities. A survey of waste materials found that recycling and composing could reduce waste by 80-90
percent. Since July 2006, two villages have formed a Waste Management Committees and have been collecting waste for recycling. The recyclable materials generate income. Part of the fund
goes to the collector and the other part is saved and used for community social events. Villages now look cleaner and free of plastic bottles, plastic bags, papers or glasses. Other communities
are observing this and are interested in a similar program. Over 50 households in villages 4 and 2 are also composting using the bioliquid extraction method
EM using composting barrels and bacteria provided by the SCL project. The project is in the process of finding ways to utilize and market this composted product for agriculture.
In August and September the project staff began working with communities and disaster management representatives to complete a disaster management plan in each village. So far, two
70 out of seven participating villages have completed plans. The other communities will follow. To
date, each village has a community-prepared map, evacuation routes, household evacuation kits, and committees to take care of things before, during, and after a disaster event. Videos of
survivors’ stories are being transcribed and will be placed in the Tsunami memorial room in the newly constructed Learning Center.
During this time, the project provided regular monitoring and technical assistance to the five village microfinance groups. There have been several changes in management and bylaws
through the project’s intervention to make two of the village banks that are lagging behind more efficient. Additional funds were provided to Village 3 in recognition of their successful
management of the microfinance and request for additional support. The project maintains a detailed database updated monthly on the status of each village bank, loans, types of
microenterprises, and loan repayments. In addition to the above, a number of other activities were completed.
●
Three Kamphuan in Action Newsletters distributed
●
Two workshops on community-based disaster management trained 33 community members
●
Training of 11 women in Muslim headscarf production initiated
●
Community works: soccer field at village 7 re-sodded by youth group
●
Spawning of two batches of catfish at the small-scale catfish hatchery
●
Construction of small-scale feed mill and office
●
Initiation of the first production cycle of three household experiments in integrated Muscogee duck-tilapia fish-vegetable garden production
●
Planning and organization of a group of 10 community members interested in establishing a yellow ginger farm
●
Organization of a group of six people to start a small fresh coffee café
●
Mid-term evaluation team hosted at the field site
●
Strategic planning retreat in Krabi, September 2006
●
SUCCESS meetings in Miami in July 2006
●
Visit of local, Provincial and national agencies to the field site to learn from the project’s experience in community based disaster management
71
V. Contacts with USAID Missions
Tanzania The SUCCESS sites in Zanzibar were visited by the ENV SO team during the meeting held in
July, 2006. Later, Crawford and Torell met with Dennis Cengel and Gilbert Kajuna at the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam in September 2006 and November 2006 respectively, to provide
progress reports on SUCCESS activities including those related to economic activities and analyses, which the Mission is very interested in seeing once complete. Edwin Requintina also
briefed the Mission on progress concerning milkfish farming pilot activities and potential. Also, TCMP represents and reports on SUCCESS activities during ENV SO meetings held quarterly by
the Tanzania Mission along with work funded directly by the Mission. The SUCCESS coordinator at WIOMSA is invited and attends periodic meetings conducted by TCMP to ensure
Program activities are fully coordinated. Nicaragua
Steve Olive: A meeting was held to discuss alternative livelihoods with Dr. Olive and to discuss the issues associated with the lack of collaboration from SELVA, the NGO responsible for
management of the Padre Ramos Protected Area, which has impeded work with cockle management and research in the area. Dr. Olive discussed his willingness to work on this issue
with CIDEA. Steve Fondriest: Dr. Fondriest was contacted to obtain contact numbers for Dr. Jerry Bouer, who
is with the U.S. Forest Service and stationed in Puerto Rica to request assistance in conducting a study of the bird species found in Padre Ramos Estuary in support of the ecotourism efforts. Dr.
Fondriest is planning to visit Puerto Morazan in December to observe the tilapia culture project. Maira Vargas Roa-Fulbright Program: Communication has been maintained to understand the
application process and to submit an application for Dr. Jurij Homziak of the University of Vermont. Dr. Homziak wishes to work with CIDEA to develop an extension program in Coastal
Management for the Pacific Coast and for institutional strengthening. Peace Corps: Communication has been maintained with Georgia Narcisso, who visited Puerto
Morazan, met with the high school principal and had follow-up meeting with volunteers Mike Millar and Kelly Broach who are coordinating with CIDEA.
Ecuador Emilio Ochoa and Maria Haws met with Rocio Cedeno in October 2006, when she visited
Guayaquil. Cedeno was updated on the SUCCESS Ecuador progress and issues around the transition of Emilio Ochoa as director of EcoCostas and lead for the SUCCESS Program. The
visit included discussion of fundraising for the passion fruit and cacao work, as well as the concerns of stakeholders in the area about problems related to transporting products such as
chame and fruit to nearby larger markets and post-harvest issues such as obtaining sanitation permits to process products. Cedeno advised she would investigate whether USAID had funding
to address these issues andor whether other USAID projects working on these topics might be able to help. EcoCostas staff then prepared a proposal which was submitted to USAID.
Kategori