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Vol. 1 No. 2 (2017): NOVEMBER

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Forest, water and people: The roles and limits of mediation in transforming watershed conflict in Northern Thailand

https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v1i2.2049
Ahmad Dhiaulhaq
Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6420-9936
Kanchana Wiset
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
Rawee Thaworn
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
Seth Kane
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
David Gritten
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4348-8088

Corresponding Author(s) : Ahmad Dhiaulhaq

ahmad.dhiaulhaq@gmail.com

Forest and Society, Vol. 1 No. 2 (2017): NOVEMBER

Abstract

This study focuses on watershed management in Northern Thailand, where conflict over forest, land and water-use is a prevailing problem. A characteristic of watershed conflicts is that they are often multifaceted and involve multiple stakeholders with different interests and values, consequently requiring conflict management approaches that are sustainable in their outcomes, including addressing the underlying causes of the conflicts. Drawing from a case study in Mae Tia Mae Tae watershed in Northern Thailand, this study explores how mediation by external third party can contribute to the transformation of conflicts in the watershed and how the broader institutional contexts in which the conflict is embedded shapes the mediation outcomes. The study suggests that co-creation of mutual understanding and recognition of each party’s socio-cultural differences, including land-use practices, are critical in building trust and in how conflict transformation processes moved forward. Moreover, the ability of the mediator in facilitating the establishment of a deliberative institution (i.e. a watershed network committee) and agreed rules on forest utilization were also critical in maintaining long-term collaboration in the watershed and potentially preventing other conflicts arising in the future. Some issues, however, may threaten the continuity of the cooperation and sustainability of peace in the watershed, including the lack of structural reform that formally recognizes local people’s rights, insecure land tenure, and the absence of legal recognition for the watershed network committee as a legitimate mechanism for watershed decision making. The paper discusses these findings by comparing it with those from our previous studies in other locations (Cambodia, Indonesia and Western Thailand) to strengthen the insights from Northern Thailand. Finally, the research puts forward some recommendations for reforms and to strengthen the use of effective mediation, to achieve transformative outcomes, in conflicts of this nature. iation, to achieve transformative outcomes, in conflicts of this nature. 

Keywords

Watershed management forest conflict mediation conflict transformation Thailand
Dhiaulhaq, A., Wiset, K., Thaworn, R., Kane, S., & Gritten, D. (2017). Forest, water and people: The roles and limits of mediation in transforming watershed conflict in Northern Thailand. Forest and Society, 1(2), 121-136. https://doi.org/10.24259/fs.v1i2.2049
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Author Biographies

Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Ahmad Dhiaulhaq is currently a PhD student at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. He holds a master’s degree in Environment (M.Env) from the University of Melbourne. Prior to his PhD study, Ahmad worked as a forest conflict researcher at RECOFTC–The Center for People and Forests, based in Bangkok, Thailand. In the last few years his research has focused on forest and land conflict transformation, including an analysis of the application of mediation in transforming forest and land conflicts in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, and an analysis of the existing and future conflicts under REDD+ implementation.
David Gritten, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
Dr. (D.Sc. Agriculture and Forestry), Advisor to the DEBEG project. Project Manager at the Center for People and Forest (RECOFTC). His expertise is on Social sciences, forest governance, and forest conflicts
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