Fears that the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex will be stripped of its World Heritage Site status have faded from public attention, but the case remains a pressing issue given its new bid to expand road construction.
Thailand is racing against time to submit all the documents to the Unesco World Heritage Committee in a bid to stop the site, which covers 3.84 million rai or 6,152 sq km in six provinces, namely Sara Buri, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaeo and Buri Ram, from losing Unesco protection. The decision will be made by the World Heritage Committee at a meeting this June in Bonn, Germany.
In fact, it's more precise to say that the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, also known as the Forest Complex of the East, is an urgent problem, among others, including the poor management of the Ayutthaya historical site, and the controversial nomination of Kaeng Krachan National Park as a World Heritage Site, which is beset by land rights conflicts between forest authorities with indigenous forest dwellers and the alarming disappearance of Karen community leader and forest conservationist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen on May 18 last year.
For the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, there remain a few contentious issues.
"The committee is concerned with the ongoing smuggling of rosewood, known as one of the priciest woods in the world, as well as the construction of a reservoir in Tablan National Park and Pang Sida National Park, part of the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forest complex," said Petch Manopawitr, deputy head of Southeast Asia Group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The World Heritage Committee is also keeping tabs on the Department of Highway's plans to expand the 304 Highway running through the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex. The development includes constructing the first wildlife corridor in Thailand at spots where wild animals have been frequently hit by vehicles. The wildlife corridor project is part of a pact the Thai government made with the Unesco World Heritage Committee when it was first nominated as a heritage site in 2005.
But the plan, which costs 2.99 billion baht, also involves road expansion, between two to four lanes, at a mountainous part of the 42nd-57th kilometre section. The department will call for bids on the project this year and construction is expected to start next year and be completed within three years.
The wildlife corridor will be erected at two spots on the highway: the 26th-29th km section and 42nd-57th km section. The first, which is regarded as a highly sensitive zone in Khao Yai National Park, will have an elevated flyover and a tunnel for vehicles. The second will feature an underpass that allows wild animals to move freely across.
The tunnel for wild animals is designed to mimic nature and so will be covered with earth and soil to help wildlife feel at home and not intimidated by the concrete structure.
Although conservationists generally oppose any form of construction in protected forests, they say the wildlife corridor project is more acceptable than road expansion. It is believed the tunnel will to help reduce wildlife deaths from vehicles along the 304 Highway.
Moreover, the 304 Highway has fragmented the forest complex, leading to inbreeding within animal groups as they are unable to migrate across the road to find non-familial mates.
Hannarong Yaowalers, a veteran environmental activist, is particularly concerned about environmental damage both during road construction and in the aftermath.
Mr Hannarong encouraged the Highway Department to allow conservation groups to help monitor the construction, especially since the area is not state property but is under the jurisdiction of Unesco as a World Heritage Site. But so far, the department has only commissioned business companies and consultants to monitor the project's environmental management.
In the long term, he said it's necessary for the department to track the movement of wildlife to evaluate whether the wildlife corridor will really work or not.The environmentalist is cautious about the impact of the construction work on wildlife and nature.
"I am afraid it is going to be just another construction project. Constructing here is not a matter to be taken lightly because the designated site involves vulnerable ecology," he said. "The Highway Department needs to be careful and ensure nature is well protected," he added.
Anchalee Kongrut writes about the environment in the Life section, Bangkok Post.
