16 target community groups are situated in the Yom and Nan River basin.Both are two major tributaries of the Gulf of Thailand?s Chaophaya River. One prominent community livelihood involves the production of Saa Paper whose raw material is obtained from a somewhat endemic species ?Saa? tree(Mulberry). The production requires chemical processes whose waste is rated as a very high toxic.

As the demand for the paper is increasing, both in local and international market, unplanned and increasing production at community level is posing ecological threat, first at local level ,but then will gradually reach downstream communities and contribute to the degradation of the Gulf of Thailand.
With experience from a year-3 project ? Saa Paper for Environment? , the project aims to disseminate lessons learnt and build additional capacity for these occupational groups in a wider scale. In essence, the theme will stress on toxic-free, cleaner technology and energy-saving production.However,in order to maximize the efficiency of the capacity-building process, step-by-step, easy and simple approaches appropriately devised for community will be applied.

The project goal is to raise environmental awareness of and secure participation from these occupation groups so that collective reversal of ecological degradation of the Chaophaya River would be sustained and disseminated to surrounding area of eight provinces in upper northern area of the country.


Project participants and/or beneficiaries:

1. Members of 16 Saa Paper Producers? Group are direct beneficiaries.
2. Baan Long Lue Boon Saa Paper production group providing pre-existing facilities
3. The Office of Agriculture Museum and Culture playing coordinating role
4. Agro-industries and Agricultural Product Research and Development providing technical support
5. College of Engineering, Kasetsart University providing the design and installation of energy-saving
boiler
6. The Nan and Prae Provincial Office of Local Development playing coordinating role in the locality

Activities to be carried out under project:

-Conducting training and workshop on chemical waste and its effect upon ecological systems
- Study tours
- Building and demonstrating the use of environmentally-friendly boiler

Anticipated Results/Immediate Outputs of Project:

1. Emergence of a network of 16 communities practicing environmentally-friendly production of Saa Paper and being models for other production groups in northern region of Thailand
2. Reduction of chemical toxic waste draining into the two rivers by 75 %