Government plans to remove protections for a portion of Thailand’s Thap Lan National Park, a core area within one of mainland Southeast Asia’s last intact tracts of forest, could trigger knock-on consequences for protected areas across the country, conservationists warn. Thap Lan National Park is one of the most ecologically rich parts of a network of five protected areas that together form the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex (DPKY-FC), a green expanse of steep, forested hills bisecting Thailand’s intensively developed plains to the northeast of Bangkok. The DPKY Forest Complex was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005 for its exceptional biodiversity, and Thap Lan itself was designated a national park in 1981. New proposals to issue title deeds for land within the reserve’s boundaries come from the prime ministers’ office, which says the process is necessary to settle historic boundary disputes with local communities who were living in the area long before it was established as a national park, according to local media reports. However, conservation groups and Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) have slammed the initiative, saying it would effectively remove 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres), roughly equivalent to one-fifth, of currently protected land from the iconic reserve. A recent public hearing process led by the DNP has led to widespread public criticism of the plans. Thap Lan National Park is a stronghold for wild Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti). Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay A hotspot of conservation hope Besides its…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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