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Copyright�1998,
The NESSThai
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For Your
Information
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 |
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Did you know?����
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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.
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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/
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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. |
Sea turtle "flying" in...
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Plastics
Polluting the Sea |
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Did you know?
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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.
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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?
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Freshwater sources are amongst the most threatened of all the life-giving resources on
this planet.
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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
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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. |
A water fall in Phang Nga |
Population
Growth |
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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.
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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
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Coconut
"Ma:
Praow" |
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Did you know?
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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!
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Visit the Royal Kew Botanical Gardens web site for some facts about the coconut palm: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/coconut.html
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Harvesting coconut on Koh Ngai |
Frogs |
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Did you know?
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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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