Pledge to make a difference, together.
Conserve Natural Forests (CNF) is a non-profit NGO based in the Pai District of Mae Hong Son in Northern Thailand and Krabi in Southern Thailand, and we have planting sites in over 7 provinces across the country. Our mission is to restore natural forest landscapes throughout Thailand in ways that protect and enhance biodiversity, self-regulate landscape ecological processes, and improve the livelihoods of local communities in the long term. Our work would not be possible without the invaluable support of the local community and Thai government, and we are thankful for their help and the help of other like-minded individuals who have facilitated our development these past years.
FOREST RESTORATION CNF strives to meet global biodiversity and climate change mitigation targets in ways that sustain or improve local livelihoods. This includes the preservation of local old-growth forests and restoration of degraded landscapes. We also work with local communities to promote agroforestry and other sustainable farming practices through education, training, and capacity-building. With the help of our friends, we work year-round throughout Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai Provinces to rebuild the beautiful and biodiverse tropical forests of Northern Thailand.
CNF advocates a science-based holistic approach to forest landscape restoration. We employ a range of restoration strategies tailored to site characteristics, degradation level, disturbance regime, and the needs of the communities who stand to benefit the most from forest restoration. There are few one-size-fits-all solutions, and we believe that multifarious problems require multifaceted responses. In essence, we aim to plant the right trees in the right place at the right time. PROTECTED & ASSISTED NATURAL REGENERATION (ANR) Removing barriers to natural regeneration includes reducing competition through weeding, mulching, and planting fast-growing species with wide crowns and large leaves to shade out herbaceous grasses and weeds. Strategies to reduce disturbances include protection from livestock grazing and establishing fire breaks to minimize risk during the annual burning season. We also attempt to augment multiple regenerative pathways by attracting seed dispersers with fruits, nectars, and shelter structures like bird perches, as well as selecting sites within 5km of natural forest to enhance seed rain and dispersal. THE FRAMEWORK SPECIES METHOD The Framework Species Method is an accelerated forest restoration strategy that involves planting a mixture of 20-30 species of certain functional traits to promote vertically and horizontally complex, self-regulating, healthy regeneration. Our target planting density - based on the optimal balance between competition and facilitation during growth - is 3100 trees per hectare. In Northern Thailand, most of the species we plant using this framework display certain common traits: high survival rates (Ficus spp., Prunus cerasoides), rapid growth rates (Tectona grandis, Hopea odorata, Terminalia catappa), fire resilience through re-sprouting or coppicing (Tectona grandis, Caesalpina sappan), nitrogen-fixation (Fabaceae spp., Tamarindus indicus), rooting complexity (Bauhinia purpurea), and wide, dense crowns (Tectona grandis). Depending on the site, we plant a mixture of pioneer and late-successional species that capture a sufficient fraction of target biodiversity to stratify the forest structure and provide multiple ecological niches for seed dispersers from nearby forests and promote species recruitment. MANGROVE RESTORATION As of December 2021, we have expanded our work to include mangrove landscape restoration in the south of Thailand, fitting with Conserve National Forest's mission and vision. CNF has already restored mangrove sites in the provinces of Krabi and Satun where our work continues, and are currently working on restoring sites in Phang Nga Communities along the coast of southern Thailand depend on mangrove forests, as it protects their livelihood by maintaining healthy supplies of fish and shellfish while also functioning as a protective barrier from the ocean. Mangroves operate as hatcheries for invertebrates and a wide variety of fish species. They provide shelter for young fish from predators and a warm, calm aquatic environment for them to grow in. This, in turn, safeguards a steady population of fish that can be caught by the local fisherman. Mangroves are not only important but highly unique. They have adapted to grow where other trees are unable to. These adaptations are: Physical Stability: Mangroves have "prop roots" that descend from the trunk and branches that provide structural stability and anchor the tree to the ground. Additionally, pneumatophores are lateral roots that grow upwards out of the mud and water to allow for the intake of oxygen and, subsequently, respiration. Salt Tolerance: Mangroves' tolerance to salt means they are able to not only survive, but thrive in harsh saline environments. The red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, has the ability to exclude salt uptake via a filtration process that takes place on the surface of the root while the white mangrove, Laguncularia racemose, excretes salt through its leaves. Reproductive Adaptation Mangroves have a unique way of producing, known as vivipary, whereby the seeds germinate into seedlings while still attached to the tree. Ensuring the conservation of mangrove forests is ensuring our own safety and livelihoods. A forest is more than just the trees - it is a complex tapestry spun by a dizzying array of plants, animals, insects, fungi, and bacteria. Thailand is a biodiversity hotspot and we would like to keep it that way - that's why the methods we use promote functional diversity and species recruitment. Some animals - like elephants - play an integral role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.We work with a broad coalition - including the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, and more - to return these keystone species to protected areas where they can nurture the forest in ways we never could. LOCAL LIVELIHOODS One organisation is not enough to sustain significant, long-lasting change - we cannot overstate the importance of working with the local community toward sustainable development and environmental awareness. We host several large-scale tree planting events each year with the support of the Pai community. We also donate our seedlings for a variety of causes including land retention, watershed improvement, and urban greenery, and work with nearby villages regarding sustainable agriculture and agroforestry through education and capacity building. We also invite local primary and secondary students to our project site in order to provide education and cultivate empathy towards the environment among the people for whom climate change will matter most. SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Our land is a place where honest questions are met with honest answers. By joining us for a day on our project site, you will participate in a unique experience which combines education about Thailand's tropical ecosystems with an opportunity to give back by planting a tree and learning about low-impact travel. It's important to understand the diverse impacts - both positive and negative - that tourism may generate for local people and local ecosystems, and what we can do to minimize our travel footprint. We believe that education and awareness are critically important to a more fulfilling travel experience, whether here in Thailand or anywhere else.