1. Lab 22: DesigningaNational Park
PimployThirati
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Introduction:
This National Park is located in Southern Thailand. It is covered by one of the largest
rainforest in Thailand, deep valleys, breathtaking lakes, beautiful waterfall, wildlife museum and
many wild life animals. It is a great place to go on vacation and/or field trip. This national park
aims to promote and preserve the area by making visitors appreciate this beautiful sight. The
museum features information on the vast variety of flora and fauna in the area, as well as facts
and history about the area. It focuses on the four protected animals found in the park: Rafflesia
priceii (world’s biggest flower), Hylobates lar (Lar gibbon), Neofelis nebulosa (clouded leopard),
and Rhinoplaz vigil (helmeted hornbill).
Objectives:
- Protect, maintain and enhance natural processes
- Ensure local people are involved in and benefit from the creation of the park
o Educate them about their local resources, make them proud of their surroundings
o Hire them as tour guides for visitors
o Educate poachers and train them to become research assistants
- Preserve and enhance the ecological and aesthetic quality and diversity of natural and
cultural landscapes
- Preserve and possibly increase species diversity
- Promote sustainable forms of tourism and local recreation
- Promote sustainable transport
o Promote the use of HPM (Human Powered Mobility)
- Raise public awareness of the distinctive ecological, cultural, historical and economic
characteristics of the area
o Develop an environmental education program for the public and visitors
o Offer courses, internships
- For further research projects
o Establish the park as a study area for scientists
- For the enjoyment of the scenery, natural and historical objects, and the wild life
The importance of each of the four selected species and how these organisms will be preserved
and protected
Rafflesia – world’s largest flower
- Contains approximately 28 species (high species diversity)
- Relies on Endoparasite of vines in the genus Tetrastigma (important to preserve this
plant)
- Tree shrews and other forest mammals eat the fruits (food source for other animals)
- Only found in a few localized habitats (makes the park more economically valuable)
- The bud can be used for medication
2. Lab 22: DesigningaNational Park
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Hylobates lar – Lar gibbon
- Usually separated by large rivers – important to take note of the rivers in the park
- Diurnal and arboreal (restrict site-seeing at night)
- Hunted for their meat, captured for pets, loss of habitat
Neofelis nebulosa – clouded leopard
- Classified as “vulnerable” in 2008 by IUCN
- A favored hunting tactic is to drop on prey from the trees (important to preserve trees)
- Arboreal and nocturnal
- Hunt prey in the trees and use trees to rest during the day (limited disturbance during the
day)
- Consume both arboreal and terrestrial mammals
- Hunted for skins, claws, teeth
- Bones and meat as substitute for tiger in traditional Asian medicines and tonics
Rhinoplax vigil – helmeted hornbill
- Eats mostly fruit, especially figs
- Also eats insects and similar prey
- Educate poachers and train them to become research assistants
- Improve/repair existing nest cavities and modify natural cavities
- Install artificial nests
- Cultural value – the Punan people believe that a large Helmeted Hornbill guards the river
between life and death.
- Retain very large trees and fruit trees for nest and food source
- If hornbill nests are found in trees selected for logging, this means the tree is certainly
hollow and it should therefore be left standing.
Education:
- Museum displaying the importance of biodiversity
o Information about the four selected species
o The importance of these species – why they are special
o Information about other plants and organisms in the park
o The danger of illegal logging etc.
- Map of the park and the surrounding area
- Information about the local hill tribe (culture and tradition)
3. Lab 22: DesigningaNational Park
PimployThirati
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Recreation:
- Jungle trekking ( educate visitors and also provide jobs for local people)
- Boat tours to Lake Brown
- Museum
Monitoring
- Tourists
o How many people come in each year and during what time of the year
o Which cites attract more or less visitors
o Trend of visitors after the first few years
- Consumption of the animals
o Observe their dung
o Monitor an animal and observe the types of plants and/or organisms they consume
- Animals population
o Count the population of each species of animal (as for clouded leopard, night
cameras are set up since they will only come out at night)
- Interactions between protected animals and other species
- Economics
o Generate enough income to pay for the expenses
o Internationally significant (NGO funding)
- Living condition and well-being of the locals
o Interview and survey
- Temperature
o Thermometer set up around the park, regulate the temperature
- Water/precipitation
o Regularly measure the amount of water and precipitation
- Plants (producers)
o Keep track of every species of plant in the park as well as the amount of each
NGO and Government Proposal
- IUCN protects clouded leopard. (funding on research and monitoring)
- IUCN's Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) and IUCN’s Cat Specialist
Group
- Philippine Spotted DeerConservation Foundation (PSDCF) strongly believes in the
conservation of terrestrial and marine environments. This organization is a self fund
organization. They conduct research and help conserve Rafflesia plants. With their
equipments and knowledge, research can be conducted in the park and they can monitor
4. Lab 22: DesigningaNational Park
PimployThirati
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Rafflesia species. Moreover, the local people can learn from the PSDCF the importance
of preserving Rafflesia.
- International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has been funding forest
conservation and sustainable community development in the Emerald Triangle region for
several years through a series of earlier projects jointly funded by the governments of
Switzerland and Japan. Recently, they funded a project on conserving biodiversity in the
Mekong Protected Forest Area. They will be able to help reverse the fragmentation
around the abandoned rice farms, railway line, disused quarry and the surrounding rice
farm.
- The Center for International Forestry Researchis a nonprofit organization. Its main
goal is to advance human wellbeing, environmental conservation and equity. They
conduct research that enables more informed and equitable decision making about the use
and management of forests in less-developed countries. With their help, the local people
can learn more about their natural resources and manage them more efficiently.
- The Nando Peretti Foundation provides grants, funds and financial support to projects
which fall into one of the following areas: Charity, Educational, Environmental
conservation, Medical research, Construction. Recently the foundation funded a project
which aims at surveying the population status and distribution of lar gibbons within a
reserve by means of setting up so called "listening spots" where surveyors spend a few
days and record any oral or visual evidence of gibbons. With their equipments, methods
and funding, they can monitor the four selected species, especially the lar gibbons.
- The Gibbon Project is an NGO that seeks to conserve the endangered Hylobates Lar
Gibbon in the forests of Thailand. They recently funded a project in Thailand by taking in
illegally captured and traded gibbons, re-training them to be able to survive in the wild
and releasing them into the Phuket's last remaining rain forest.
- “The Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) is a global network of
conservation professionals dedicated to saving threatened species by increasing the
effectiveness of conservation efforts worldwide.” With their innovative science-based
tools and methodologies, they can help preserve the four selected species especially the
clouded leopards.
- Government – funding for roads and office buildings.
- National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP) is a Thai
government organization. They can help conduct research and more importantly, help
advertise and promote the park.
Rules and Regulations:
- Visitors must not disturb, harass, remove, hunt, capture, take, kill or injure, destroy or
interfere with any animal
5. Lab 22: DesigningaNational Park
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- Visitors must not destroy, disturb or interfere with the nest, bower, display mound, lair
or burrow of any animal
- Visitors must not feed, offer food or offer any object as food to animals.
- Visitors must not cut, fell, pick, remove, take, destroy or damage any vegetation in the
park
- Visitors must not bring in plant or introduce any seed, tree, shrub, fern, algae or other
vegetation into the park
- Visitors must not leave the path way indicated.
- Cars are not allowed to drive on dirt pathways.
- Visitors are not allowed to enter the core zones
Economics
- Adults will be charged for 1000 a night, children will be charged for 700
- All the activities and museum entrance will be free after the park entrance fee
- Expenses will be spent on conducting research, conserve the habitat and animals,
recreation etc.
Conclusion
This park design will benefit not only the tourists but also the local settlers. By training
poachers into research assistants, more job opportunities will be available for the villagers, less
poaching in the area, and more experience and knowledge put into developing the park. This
plan focuses on enhancing biodiversity via educating the local and the public. The associated
organizations are dedicated in improving the natural resources. While the park is open to public,
no disturbance can enter specific areas in the park; for this reason, biodiversity of the park will
not be disturbed.