Royal Forest Department

The Royal Forest Department (Abrv: RFD; Thai: กรมป่าไม้, RTGS: Krom Pa Mai) is a department in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), part of the Government of Thailand.

Royal Forest Department
กรมป่าไม้
Agency overview
Formed18 September 1896 (1896-09-18)
JurisdictionGovernment of Thailand
HeadquartersChatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand
Annual budget5,584 million baht (FY2019)
Agency executive
  • Atthaphol Chareonsa (2020), Director-General
Parent departmentMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment
Websitewww.forest.go.th

History

On 18 September 1896 King Chulalongkorn established the Royal Forest Department under the Ministry of the Interior to manage forests and control revenue from the teak forests of northern Thailand.[1] A British forester, Herbert Slade, former Deputy Conservator of Forests in Burma, served as the first director of the department.[2] In its early days the department focused on obtaining tax revenue for the use of forests rather than conservation, although its conservators expressed concern about unsustainable harvesting of teak in Thailand's northern forests.[3] In 1899 all forests were declared government property and all logging without payment to the Royal Forest Department was prohibited.

Formerly the agency controlled Thailand's national parks but in 2002 they were taken over by the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), also part of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Today, the agency aims to monitor forests, coordinate research, encourage community forest management, conserve forest land and monitor the wood industry.[4]

Budget

In fiscal year 2018 (FY2018), the RFA's budget was 5,501 million baht, increasing to 5,584 million baht in FY2019.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Brief history of the Royal Forest Department". Royal Forest Department. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  2. Pye, Oliver (2016-07-07). "Forest Policy and Strategic Groups in Thailand". Internationales Asienforum. 36 (3–4): 311–336. doi:10.11588/iaf.2005.36.429.
  3. "The Use and Abuse of Forest Work in Siam". Indian Forester. XXX (7): 299–303. 1904. Archived from the original on 2020-08-27. Alt URL
  4. "Royal Forest Department". Bangkok Post. n.d. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  5. "Thailand's Budget in Brief Fiscal Year 2019". Bureau of the Budget. 20 December 2018. p. 87. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
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