Implementation Process

Understanding reality (natural law and human law)

The youth representatives are introduced to the reality of natural law and human law.

Natural law is the system of relationships amongst living as well as non-living things in nature which have existed for as long as Earth’s existence. The youths learn about this reality through direct firsthand experience in the field.

Human law is a system created by human beings to guide humans in living together. The area in which the communities reside is within the Thung Yai Naresuan West Wildlife Sanctuary, demarcated for wildlife protection (after the communities had already been living there), under the Wildlife Protection Act 2019. Therefore, the youth representatives need to be well-informed on such law and understand its intentions as well as the value of the “natural world heritage” to Thailand and the world. To understand the 2 facets of reality properly requires a thorough process, comprising:

Understanding reality through direct firsthand experience
Knowledge transfer through knowledgeable experts – such as wildlife sanctuary officials, tiger and hornbill researchers, academics, and experienced implementers, among others.

The process implemented to “understand reality”

Camp 1 “Getting to Know Thung Yai”

The youth representatives got to understand the reality of their “natural heritage home”, including its background, history of the Thung Yai Naresuan West Wildlife Sanctuary and surrounding areas, the intricate relationships within the ecosystem, and the significance of this “world natural heritage” plot, as well as got to know the wildlife sanctuary officials.

Period: 5 days, 4 nights (23-27 February 2018)

Camp 2 “No Tiger, No Forest”

This second camp on “understanding reality” brought the youth representatives to Khao Nang Rum Wildlife Research Station, Lan Sak District, Uthai Thani Province to highlight the importance of scientific learning.

Working at the research station are tiger researchers who have been studying the tiger population and ecosystem in Thailand, particularly the Huai Kha Khaeng forest, for over 20 years. Therefore, getting to interact directly with these researchers is extremely useful for the youths to understand the importance of arriving at accurate information on tiger conservation through an evidence-based process of research and analysis, rather than assumptions based on personal beliefs.

The youths came to a common conclusion together that tigers, who sit at the top of the food chain, are essential for a thriving ecosystem.

Period: 5 days, 4 nights (5-9 May 2018)

Camp 3 “Sustainable relationships: hornbills, fossils, and organic way of life”

The youth representatives visited Khao Yai National Park, Korat Fossil Museum, and Dairy Home Social Enterprise in Nakhon Ratchasima Province to understand past–present–future relations, as well as the nature of “evolution” and “development”.

They participated in a research training process to study about hornbills scientifically, getting to know hornbills as important disseminators of wild plant seeds and indicators of healthy forests, along with tigers. Then, they were brought back in time to understand the Earth from its beginning, learning about geological history through fossils. Finally, the youths were introduced to the philosophy and working model of a social enterprise, a practical alternative allowing individuals, society, and nature to co-exist.

Fostering a “Constructive Thinking Process”

The key objective of this process in fostering “constructive thinking” is to guide the youths to be able to arrive at their own thoughts on how best to care for themselves, society, and nature, without imposing any conclusions on them. A critical input for this thinking process is accurate information, acquired through firsthand experience along with quality listening, where the listeners are open to learning and content providers are knowledgeable and truthful in their message. Ultimately, “knowledgeable thinking would lead to knowledgeable application” amongst the youths.

Key questions pondered by the youths to stimulate future thinking:

What is destruction?
What is survival?
What is conservation?

Taking Action Together

In “taking action”, a key element emphasized by the Project is participation:

Thinking together (problem solving / creative thinking)
Working together (creatively solve problems / improving the process / maintaining the progress)

The parties involved in implementing the Project include the youth representatives or community / wildlife sanctuary officials or the government / the Rabbit in the Moon Foundation or civil society. Through real implementation, following from a thorough thinking and planning process, the youths will be able to prove their ideas and acquire increasing evidence-based knowledge gained from firsthand experience, in turn being able to further refine their thought process.

Consolidating Knowledge and Exchanging Ideas towards Next Action Steps Together

Reviewing the implemented actions against set milestones, including the following steps:

Consolidating lessons learned from implementation and stocktaking in order to determine top priority, urgent, and important issues for the next phase of implementation
Reviewing implementation in order to work on improvement, including further developing the ability to understand the interconnected relationship of all things, living and non-living, in nature

Knowledge Transfer to Others

The youth representatives share their acquired knowledge with other members of their communities, including through meetings (amongst adults) and learning activities (amongst children), in order to foster collaborative conservation efforts. Steps taken include:

Explanation through audio visual aids
Trial implementation
Reviewing / extracting lessons learned together

Next Steps

The “One Community” Project is still ongoing, and the 4-step cycle is being repeated continuously, with details adjusted to reflect the youths’ deeper and more detailed understanding on the issues. The end goal of the process is to empower the new generation to play an important role in safeguarding the world natural heritage in a sustainable manner. In doing so, the following factors are important:

Self-desire amongst the youths
Knowledge through firsthand experience
Knowledge from researchers and academics, among others
Tripartite collaborative efforts: youths – sanctuary officials – Rabbit on the Moon Foundation
Provision of funds and opportunities