In 2005, Floresta came alongside Upland Holistic Development Project (UHDP) in Northern Thailand to provide support and training for marginalized hill tribes. Floresta and UHDP share a remarkably similar vision for helping poor farmers address issues of poverty and environmental degradation. In 2006, UHDP celebrated 10 years of empowering hill tribe communities with relevant and sustainable options addressing issues of poverty, lack of citizenship and related rights, and the loss of access to and degradation of forests and upland fields.
UHDP began with two local hill tribe staff members and has grown to support 13 full time staff along with several student interns working to bring about a higher quality of life and dignity among their own people. Since 1996 UHDP has worked primarily with the Palaung and Kachin hill tribes, and later in 2003, began working with the Lahu and Akha. Currently, there are 18 hill tribes communities in the UHDP focus area. Huay Pong is the first village within this focus area to be supported by Floresta through the Sponsor a Village Program.
Through UHDP assistance within the last two years, over 100 farmers have begun to adopt agroforestry and sustainable farming practices and the agroforest network has grown to 69 members. Backyard agriculture workshops have assisted over 100 families, promoting home gardens and the raising of pigs and catfish. Expanded and improved village water systems have provided 8 communities with year-round access to clean water. Among the UHDP focus areas, over 3700 residents have received citizenship/legal residence. New microfinance programs have benefited over 80 families with loans for livestock and micro-enterprise. Over 2000 women have participated in capacity building workshops and trainings in handicraft production.
Program Report 12/31/07
- Huai Pong, our first sponsored village, implemented agroforestry and sustainable agriculture practices, installed cisterns and ran microfinance activities among women groups. UHDP also helped farmers acquire Thai citizenship and legal residences. On December 9th, farmers and UHDP co-hosted a Christmas celebration in the mostly Buddhist community during which the Christmas story was shared.
- Katy Barlow (Floresta USA intern) and Kittichai Samphansinkaw (Research Technician) are working with makwaen and D. giganteus (giant bamboo) propagation to determine the best local method and then transplant them to the field and be tested by farmers to verify results.
- Tea seeds were planted in a traditional-type seedling bed at UHDP center with very good germination. Over 1000 very small seedlings have been transplanted from the bed to seedling bags containing a high clay media with ongoing growth deemed satisfactory.
- UHDP assisted 5 of 7 villages in the Mae Yao sub-district of Chiang Rai province with mapping coordinates incorporated into Google Earth satellite images to provide visible evidence of land claims as well as designated areas of land use for each community. UHDP will be helping these communities develop community maps and land use management plans in response to the establishment of the Mae Kok National Park that will incorporate them.
- Katy and Kittichai have established two agroforest plots in Chiang Dao and Mae Yao that will be used for long-term (10 years) data collection with data collection already taking place in the Chiang Dao plot. The plots are at different elevations and we will be collecting data on yields, income, labor and other inputs.
- Floresta USA representative, Bob Morikawa, spent the period of January 21-31, 2008 consulting with UHDP staff as well as the Floresta-sponsored intern and research technician related to ongoing and planned joint activities and discussing possible future collaboration between the two organizations.
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