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Copyright�1998, The NESSThai

Network for Environmentally- & Socially-Sustainable Tourism (Thailand)

For Your Information

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Our For Your Information is a changing gallery of facts about the environment and culture. Every one of the issues listed has � some pertinence to Thailand, and every one is affected in some way by the tourism industry.

Sea Turtles

���� Did you know?����

���� Sea turtles can be found in the waters off the islands in the Andaman Sea and in the Gulf of Thailand. Of the six species of marine turtles roaming the high seas on warm oceanic currents, four are most commonly seen in the Andaman. These are: the Olive Ridley's Turtle, the Hawksbill Turtle, the Green Turtle, and the Leatherback Turtle. Thai seas used to support one more turtle - the Loggerhead, but sadly this is now extinct in these waters.

���� Turtles are threatened by changes to their environment in many ways: nesting sites have been lost to development, turtles are trapped in trawl nets and thus drown, turtle eggs are stolen and turtles are killed for their meat and shells.

���� Beach front developments present a curious threat to baby turtles - baby turtles instinctively make for the brightest object in their environment. Under natural circumstances, this would be the moonlit sea. The lights of beach front developments confuse the baby turtles leading them away from the relative safety of the sea, and stranding them inland when dawn breaks and gulls and other predators start roaming the area.

���� Here are some sites devoted to sea turtles around the world and their conservation:

http://www.seaturtle.org/ �� http://www.turtles.org/

http://www.cccturtle.org/ http://www2.iu.net/seaturtle/

���� The image to the right of is one of the many beautiful pictures taken by Ursula Keuper-Bennett and Peter Bennett at Turtle Trax. Their web site also contains details of all the threats to these lovely creatures.

Photo taken by Ursula Keuper-Bennett & Peter Bennett of Turtle Trax

Sea turtle "flying" in...

Plastics Polluting the Sea

���� Did you know?

���� That there is so much plastic in the sea, that it is estimated that, even if no more plastic were thrown into the sea, it would still take 100 years for all the plastic to be washed up or removed. Plastic can cause problems to many creatures, including the sea turtle. Sea turtles sometimes mistake plastic bags for a favourite food - jelly fish - the plastic ends up in their digestive tract.

���� Check out these links for articles on how plastics enter the sea and what harm they cause there: http://www.umassd.edu/public/people/kamaral/thesis/plasticsarticle.html

http://www.seaweb.org/8oceanrep/plastic.html

Fresh Water

� Did you know?

��� Freshwater sources are amongst the most threatened of all the life-giving resources on this planet.

��� Take a look at the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) site discussing the findings of the Living Planet report on resources of the world:

http://panda.org/livingplanet/

http://www.enn.com/ENN-News-Archive/1998/02/020398/wetland.asp

http://www.panda.org/news/features/02-98/story5.htm

��� Permanent, clean, water sources are vital for life in the highly seasonal monsoonal countries like Thailand. Rivers and lakes serve many purposes, including simply keeping cool on a hot summer day. Many cultures in South and Southeast Asia centre community activities around the fishing, bathing, swimming and talking which takes place every day in nearby rivers. The importance attached to fresh water is shown in the beautiful Loy Krathong festival, where sins are washed away and respect is paid to the spirit of the waters. Fresh water is thus far more than a utility, it is the spirit of a land.

Fresh water falling in Phang-Nga

A water fall in Phang Nga

Population Growth

���� Did you know?

����� There is a saying of the Buddha that a family with few children is a happy and peaceful one, and a family with many children is an unhappy one.

����� Nonetheless children have always played an important role in rural society, providing willing workers for a farm (very important in highly labour intensive activities like rice-planting and harvesting). With changes in rural life, there are different needs for children. Many parents throughout Thailand are encouraging their children to complete their education in order to get out of agriculture. The financial demands of an education and better primary health care, including family planning advice, have encouraged parents to limit the number of children they have.

���� The population growth rate in Thailand has declined from 2.4% during 1960-92 to 1% during 1990-94.�

Have a look at some statistics for Thailand:

http://www.care.org/programs/profiles/thailand.html

Coconut

"Ma: Praow"

���� Did you know?

����� The coconut palm has to be one of the most useful and the most used plants everywhere it occurs. The milk provides a sterile source of water and sugar, the meat is used in sweets, and to make coconut cream used in curries and with desserts, the husk, or coir, can be used for matting, the shell can be used to make eating utensils and tools, the wood can be used for building, and the leaves for weaving thatch. There are literally hundreds of uses in fact, and many different varieties of coconut for that matter!

���� Visit the Royal Kew Botanical Gardens web site for some facts about the coconut palm: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/coconut.html

Coconut is harvested using a long bamboo pole with a sharp blade attached to the end

Harvesting coconut on Koh Ngai

Frogs

���� Did you know?

���� Frogs and other amphibians are indicators of environmental damage, particularly pollution. All over the world, studies are being undertaken to determine why frogs, salamanders, and so forth are being found with mutations such as an extra leg, or deformed feet. And why frog species are disappearing quietly from places where once they were common. Frogs also maintain important services in pest control for man - a pond with frogs will have fewer insects (including mosquitoes) than a pond without frogs.

��� Frogs have always provided an important source of protein in the Northeast of Thailand (making the rainy season a time of glut - with fish and frogs coming with the rain), but increasingly are threatened by changes to their environment. Before the ponds become still and silent after the rain, we need to think about what it is that humans are doing to change the environment to make it so inhospitable to our froggy friends.

��� Have a look at this site for more information on studies of declining amphibians:��� http://www.open.ac.uk/OU/Academic/Biology/J_Baker/JBtxt.htm

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