Yonok Wetlands

The aims of our Project:

To protect and conserve the wetland, birds and animals

OK - you've heard it all before ! Well ! This is a new and novel idea

Our successes so far, have been greater than we could have imagined

We are most grateful to Nick Upton: Thaibirding.com

Nick has supported our work from the very begining.With Articles and advice

http://thaibirding.com/news/news.htm

Cheers - Dowroong and Mick

Our original idea was to stop the hunting and trapping of Birds and Animals in the Yonok: With the help of Pra Ajan Sane and the full co-operation of Suriya, we have not only stopped most of the hunting and trapping in the Yonok but also have widened the area to a radius of forty kilometers of Chiang Saen.

How did we achieve this: First and foremost it was an idea I had some five years ago. I had noticed that some of the Buddhist Temples had persevered the Forest in and around the Temples. The Abbots and Monks had also placed signs, asking not to Damage the Trees and Wildlife.

I wondered if it would be possible to join in friendship to bring Buddhists and like mined people together to save what remains of our World in Thailand and the saving of Habitats, allowing, Birds and Animals to live in harmony with Man.

After all this was the teaching a great man Buddha: His words were so true that his stories and code for life has lasted for more than two thousand years. Buddha preached a Harmony between People, friends, neighbors and all Creatures that live in they're world.

When I enter many Buddhist Temples the one thing I notice are paintings of Buddha and his followers sitting in a Forest clearing, where Birds and Animals have NO FEAR.

Through Dowroong's love of Buddha and concern for her countries people and nature she has found it easy to speak with Abbots and Monks, as well as people in position to effect a change in attitudes. For myself I give my full support to her by advising and attending meetings.

Grass Owl

and

River Tern

May 2007

We started the Yonok Wetland Project on the afternoon of 28th of may 2007. It was just a chance meeting with a young fisherman who asked Dowroong if she minded if he did some fishing! Well why ask us, were just standing here looking at a River Tern. Well he says the village Head Man says we should not harm the Birds in the wetland.

It hit like a shock wave. I realized we had a chance to stop the killing that has decimated the wildlife of Thailand over the last few decades. Within half and hour I had worked out the idea for a project for the Yonok.

In the northern part of the Yonok there were situated two Temples: Wat Yonok and Ba Mak No. We had visited these temples and recently met with the Abbot of Wat Yonok, Wat Ba Mak No, has been a favorite Temple of ours for a long time and so we approached the two Abbots to see if they liked our ideas.

They seemed interested and suggested we taught the local children some english in the Temples and so it was agreed we would do that at weekends. We talked about the need to protect the birds and wetland and how we hope to achieve this.

It was here at Ba Mak No, that I first met Pra Ajan Sane, he told us that he had battled for conservation in the east of Thailand and had fought for Democracy in Bangkok. He then became a Monk in order to reflect on his life and live for the future with guidance through Buddha.

Pra Ajan Sane explained that people had tried in the Yonok before but didn't really show any commitment. So maybe they were testing us out as events started slowly:; However the pace soon quickened.

Teaching in the Temples, talking to local people about they're needs, they wanted tourists to come to they're village and home stay and help with ideas for mutual benefit. I also had to write up this project, that in it self has taken a vast amount of time, and now I'm working hard on our Yonok Project Web Site. We also have to spend time in the Yonok: birding, identifying problem areas and try to meet with as many people as possible.

In just six weeks we had a firm base and a lot of success, we had won the respect and trust of Abbots and Monks and many local people. Our teaching classes were highly successful and we had some help. Candice Fiztsimonds helped out with the teaching on a number of weekends and had a lot of fun with the kids. Several Thais were very helpful: Mr May has taken the kids birding, donated 200 books. Dr Mong also came along to see our kids and donated to the no hunting signs. Quite a few monks attend and one has a walk of 6klm to see us.

Others away from Chiang Saen have supported us greatly: in particular John Roberts, Nick Upton and Phil Round. But in truth our lucky break came from High Abbot Khru Ba Boun Chum, He told us he had a recurring dream that he had to acquire the area now named Wat Viang Cum and to award the position of Abbot to Pra Ajan Sane.

Wat Viang Cum is sited in woodland and opposite Wat Ba Mak No: between these two Temples lies a most beautiful Harrier roost, sometimes containing more than 200 birds, it is also a roost of grass Owls a new species breeding in Thailand. So Yonok is an important wetland, at the last series of counts it probably has the largest number harriers Roosting in Thailand.

Today this project has being running for just a little over 4 months. I could have never dreamt how much one can achieve in such a short time.

The reason for this project was that I was so sick of seeing problems where ever I went, mostly mist nets and guns. Our breeding discovery of Grass Owls led us to find two of the Owls dead. When a hunter suddenly appeared close to the River Tern, well could have been our last days in Thailand.

On the 26th of May 2007 at 0900 we found a River Tern on the area I have named Yonok Wetlands.

River Tern is now extinct as a breeding species in Thailand and now has the status of vagrant.

This project is not intended for the River Tern, but for all, bird's animals and creatures dwelling in this area of wetland. The idea however, came from the River Tern.

On the evening 26th we returned to have another look. The Tern was flying up and down an embankment: suddenly a hunter appeared, with a long rifle. We had just lost our first breeding pair of Grass Owls, shot by a hunters.

We were separated from the guy by deep water so the only thing to do was shout, We decieded on going to see the village boss, so we quickly headed that way, as we were leaving we spotted a guy heading vaguely in the hunters direction, Dowroong spoke to him across the water divide, quickly explaining the worrying situation, the man went off to tell the hunter. We continued to the village, hopefully to meet the Boss.

He was not at home, but we did meet with his wife, who was most interested and said she would convey this to her husband.

As we left her home the hunter was riding by, we asked him to stop and he seemed very polite and said he hadn't shot anything. So, that was that we didn't expect too much really.

The following day we had to meet with Dr Mong and his Lanna bird group as they wished to view the Grass Owl nesting site.

On the evening of the 28th, I decided to go and see the River Tern as I had an idea as to where more grass owls might be located, we were rewarded at 7.25pm as a Grass Owl appeared. Yet another new site, further searching revealed five more.

Earlier, while we were watching the Tern a young man appeared and spoke to Dowroong for quite a length of time, after he left, I enquired as to what they were talking about.

She said he was a polite boy and asked her if he can fish here, why would he ask you that I replied.

He said that the village boss had instructed people not to kill birds in the wetland and that many people want to preserve the wildlife of the wetland, not only that they are very keen on our ideas which she had explained to Mrs. Boss.

NOW! Here is a doorway to restoring Yonok Wetland to its former days: we were told that only 20 years ago the skies turned black with the vast numbers of birds that lived here.

Together we have systematically discovered all 4 harrier roosts in the Chiang Saen area, and so far 3-5 grass owls roosts / breeding sites.

We seem to have won the respect of the local fishermen hunter, villagers. We have caused them a few problems in the past by getting the Non Hunting Area (NHA) to stop them netting. A year ago we were threatened by 4 drunken men who worked the buffalo camp, we dealt with them and have had no problem since, quite the reverse, and people are very polite and friendly now.

Dowroong is a most skilled speaker, who can put her case to people of any level. This is Her Project. She is very keen to help local people and to work directly with them, we have some very good ideas for preserving the Yonok Wetland and helping the villagers to gain something from this.

Yonok Wetland is a vast area: I would guess approx 25 times the size of Chiang Saen Lake . As your can see from the map from Google the areas are administered by the districts of Chiang Saen and Mai Chan. The highlighted causeway, I believe to be the district boundary is not a road and can only be crossed on foot or by motorbike.

To start with we will be dealing with this area of Chiang Saen district as it is here that we know many of the people.

The unity of conservation minded people has been an idea of mine for about two years now.

I first got the idea as I noticed that some Temples had tried to protect the nature within the Temple boundaries. This seems to work, so I intend to meet with like minded monks and set up a sort of: lets say conservation friendly Temples This will not only be good for conservation but good for Buddhism,

We have gained now respect and trust of the people of Yonok Wetland area, we have to take this opportunity NOW to finish the netting and shooting of birds and animals here and create a safe haven in this potentially amazing wetland. My dream is to extend this to the area I call Little England where the Owls died. I think this will all be possible as support grows.

We have now got the interest of A Thai Bird Conservation and they have looking into listing the Little England area as an area for conservation.

We will have to work closely with these villages, they want foreign tourist and we have a lot of ideas to help them.

You can see from the Google map that I have highlighted the Temples , Villages and what I consider to be the district boundary between Chiang Saen and Mai Chan.

The following is list of people who will lend there help and influence to this project. (I do not have all the English translation of some people's names, I will attempt to write the names where possible and I have the same problem with the villages).

John Roberts, Director of Elephants, Anantara Resort and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle.

John is the Director of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation - a local charity that concentrates on helping elephants that cannot help themselves, prior to coming to Thailand he worked as a Field Officer for Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in Chitwan National Park , Nepal and is a Trustee of the International Trust for Nature Conservation.

We have known these two people for some time. I first met Mr Boonpop seven years ago and more recently Mr May. Both have pledged their support in dealing with any poaching that I discover. In the past they have tried to deal with trappers etc. but it's a difficult, they stop for a day or so and then it all starts up again. Now with our support and of the village heads it will make life a lot easier for NHA staff to deal with these hunters and with the added support of the Temples it's going to help a great deal.

Wat Yonok, we have met with the head Monk Pra Juntor Terawoodto, he is a very fine man and has taken an interest in the nature within the Temple area, this is a very small Wat located in an area of woodland and is bordered on three sides by water.

Mr Pra Juntor Terawoodto gave us the idea of teaching English to the village children in the Temple : the idea is to help them to understand the five choices of the Buddha and to also give them an understanding of the need to protect birds and animals. The local villager's particular asked that:We teach them some English so this is an ideal way to do that.

We spent 2 hours talking to the Temple elders, Pra Audta Jaruwanno and Pra Sane Tawaro

Wat Pa Mak No is a most interesting Temple and situated in the heart of the wetland, formally an Island is now connected to the main land by a short causeway. This Temple has long been a favorite of ours: it affords excellent views over the Yonok wetland. The Temple grounds have some surprises as many smaller structures and stone creatures are set within the woodland. It's a good spot to see rat snake and some good lizards. The wetland here has a large Harrier roost and a Grass Owl roost of 5.

Pra Sane Tawaro was most pleased to talk with Dowroong, between themselves they have a joint plan for the future of the Temple and Wetland.

We have been asked to teach English to the Monks and to the interested adults and children from three nearby villages.

It is also Pra Sane Tawaro dream to incorporate the surrounding wetland into the custody of the Temple . He will need our help to achieve this and the English language teaching will help in changing people's ideas on hunting.

I think I should make it clear that I am neutral with regard to Religion. I have a strong belief in God and I do not seek to change people's beliefs. We are not on a religious crusade! Quite the opposite I believe in freedom of thought and to make ones own choice in life.

It seems our time has come. We are now fully committed to this project and will give as much of our time as possible to it.