Challenging Lack of Affected Communities' Voices at World Bank Meeting on Deforestation in Thailand

On Monday, March 5, 2021, Manushya Foundation and Woman Human Rights Defender Nittaya Muangklang joined the meeting organized by the World Bank and the Thai government to discuss drivers of deforestations in Thailand.

Sadly, we were the only civil society organization invited and Nittaya was the only community member affected by Thailand's bad forest policies to be there to voice her concerns. We were invited only because we are pursuing a complaint against the World Bank for funding a bad study of deforestation in Thailand and for not effectively monitoring the actions of the Thai forestry officers, badly treating Indigenous Peoples and villagers living in the forest instead of recognizing them as protectors of the forest. This has to STOP: capitalist investors shall be the ones criminalized as they destroy the forest.

Nittaya gave her opinion as villager on the ground who was badly affected by the Forest Reclamation Policy. She demanded that policy makers realize how, in reality, the way of life of villagers and Indigenous Peoples including their agricultural activities is sustainable and help preserve the forest! They are PROTECTORS of the forest.

Emilie Pradichit, our Founder and Director also urged the policy makers that before launching any study, they should have done a thorough research on forest change, mapping out which area actually has the highest rate of deforestation and not just blindly accused

Indigenous Peoples and villagers as the main causes of deforestation in Thailand!

Again, they are PROTECTORS of the forest while deforestation has been caused by the capitalist investors!