Huai Pla Lot: from a bald mountain to forest and coffee beneath large trees
The Black Lahu community in Tak Province restored the forest with more than 400 check dams, generating total household income of more than 14 million baht per year. The Project supported 2 water sources and a 5-kilometre wet firebreak.
Translated from Thai · reviewed by the CF team
More than 60 years ago, the Black Lahu moved to settle in Dan Mae Lamao Subdistrict, Mae Sot District, when nearly the entire village grew opium and practised shifting cultivation. Water sources dried up, the soil degraded, and the landscape became a bald mountain. Today, the streams that once ran dry are moist all year round, and the giant river frog (Khiat Laeo), an indicator of the highest level of water cleanliness, can be found there.
The community built more than 400 check dams, used GPS to map water sources, channelled water to generate 3 kilowatts of electricity, and planted Arabica coffee, cocoa, luk niang and bamboo among forest trees under the concept of "three types of trees, four benefits". The work benefited 213 households, or 912 people.
The Project provided 50,000 baht, allocated to repairing 2 water sources, a full value-chain coffee and cocoa learning activity for 30 farmers and young people, and installing a water pipeline along a 5-kilometre firebreak to create a wet firebreak throughout the dry season.