The coastal villages of SW Thailand were once home to thriving mangrove forest ecosystems that preserved the shoreline, sequestered carbon, sheltered fish, and sustained communities that relied on small-scale inshore fishing. Today, these communities are among the poorest in the region as mangroves are lost to aquaculture, logging, and urban expansion. MAP will help 4 communities develop sustainable sources of mangrove-based income through harvesting high-quality honey from mangrove flowers.
Coastal villages on the Andaman Sea in Southern Thailand are feeling the impacts of climate change, coastal deforestation and over-fishing. At least half of all mangrove forests in Thailand have been destroyed, and this has led to poverty, land degradation, loss of resource-based livelihoods, and deterioration of subsistence fisheries. This project will affect more than 300 coastal villagers working to reclaim local resources and livelihoods that will allow them to restore their mangroves.
Since 2014, MAP has been collaborating with Ban Nai Nang to generate new income while restoring their mangrove forests. Today 45 beekeeping families, who would normally depend on small-scale fishing, are empowered, producing +300kg of honey per year and value-added products such as hand soaps, shampoos and balms. They want to pass on their expertise to 4 other communities, creating a sustainable network to share skills and knowledge.
By partnering with Nai Nang to provide training workshops and education, the other 4 villages will attain the necessary skills to keep bees, harvest honey, and produce honey products, generating a new sustainable livelihood. This will enable villagers to provide for their families and ensures a better future and education opportunities for their children. 10% of honey product sales goes into a Conservation Fund that gets put back into restoring mangroves that the area has lost in the past.
