In their post on how behavioural science can promote environmental stewardship, Ivo Vlaev and Marco J Haenssgen explore the case of northern Thailand, and argue that research and policy collaboration with indigenous communities is key to conservation success.
Aficionados of Leonardo DiCaprio movies will remember the famous cannabis farm scene in The Beach when DiCaprio and his two fellow travellers in Thailand have to escape the gunfire of Indigenous farmers protecting their crop.
While this makes for exciting viewing, though, it also reveals an unsettling truth: that this is how unfamiliar, remote communities are often framed. This is certainly how the government in Bangkok has traditionally approached the Indigenous peoples of Thailand, who are regularly viewed as the primordial, ethnic ‘other’.
According to the Thai authorities, ‘hill tribes’ in the north of the country have long posed a problem of some sort. In the post-war years they were seen as Communists leading a jungle insurgency. Later on, they were variously seen as illegal opium farmers, major contributors to deforestation due to their shifting cultivation practices, or more simply posing a problem due to their economic underdevelopment.
Unintended consequences from top-down policy
The latest incarnation of this discriminatory discourse is what we could call ‘green terror’. This is the government imposition of top-down conservation measures to safeguard forests and stop the pernicious problem of air pollution caused by forest fires. While laudable policy goals, the implementation of top-down policies ignores the realities on the ground.
National Park regulations may exclude local communities from forest use and at the same time prevent them from implementing effective environmental management practices, such as community forestry, forest fire monitoring, and animal grazing. Some rural development policies have had the unintended consequence of displacing communities, pushing them into more intensive farming, thus accelerating forest loss and soil degradation.
But attitudes are shifting – driven not only by massive national and international momentum to support the rights and cultural freedom of Indigenous peoples, but also helped along by a series of research project and grants from the University of Warwick and Warwick Business School. An international consortium of researchers from Chiang Mai University, behavioural scientists from Warwick University, cultural scholars from CY Cergy University Paris and legal researchers from Regents Park College at Oxford University, have been exploring how behavioural science can be used: (1) to influence policy makers to become more inclusive and equitable in their interactions with the Indigenous peoples of the northern highlands, and (2) to support highland communities in their relationship with the tropical rainforest that surrounds them.
Recognising and working with existing cultural practices
As it turns out (and as we uncovered with help from the University of Warwick Participatory Research Fund), these communities already have long-standing and varied traditions of preserving the land through sustainable practices. One of these is the ordination of sacred trees, a practice rooted in Buddhist culture which makes it a powerful taboo to fell an ‘ordained’ tree. Another is the worship of stream spirits and the associated practice of protecting fresh water sources. There are opportunities to build on this environmental heritage.
Firstly, by appreciating the diversity of these communities, which include the Hmong and the Karen peoples as two of the largest Indigenous groups in the Thai north, and the unique abilities and knowledge they bring to forest health.
Secondly, by recognising their rights. Not only to their ancestral lands, which might be expedited by the Thai government issuing them with land titles, but also to their right to contribute to the common effort of protecting the planet.
Tapping behavioural science frameworks: creating ethical social norms, using pledges and commitment
Behavioural policy design can support highlanders to exercise their rights as stewards of the land to the full. Broadly, this involves nudging communities to overcome barriers of adopting sustainable habits they already follow – joining communal activities for tree planting or creating fire breaks, for instance.
One of these is creating new ethical social norms. Fire prevention is a case in point. By recognising and celebrating those who clear dry leaves along forest corridors to slow the spread of potential fires, we can encourage others to follow suit and promote positive behaviour change. If the same forest clearers can publicise their dedication to this work, perhaps even simply by wearing stickers declaring their commitment, that is even better. A public pledge will always appeal to the pride and identity of these communities as forest custodians, and tap into that very human desire for a positive and consistent self-image.
These actions sit comfortably alongside more market-oriented ones. Hill villages of Thailand have long grown coffee and fruit such as avocados amongst the trees of the rainforest using regenerative cultivation practices. Backed by the Warwick Business School Impact Fund, the School in collaboration with Reading University and Chiang Mai University, is developing a food origin label together with the Mae Tha community in Chiang Mai province to create ‘salience’ around these crops. The idea is to create packaging that communicates to downstream urban consumers that highland produce is sustainable, and an improved consumer willingness-to-pay can in turn contribute positively to Indigenous livelihoods and communities’ ability to safeguard natural resources. There is a definitely an appetite for highland products in the hipster cafes of Bangkok and beyond, and especially so, if government policies were able to lend a helping hand to the growers with micro-financing and subsidies for organic agriculture. This could go beyond agricultural goods to encompass handicrafts, fabrics, or even services such as traditional massage techniques.
Reflecting on the journey from research to action
But how do we arrive at new behavioural interventions, let alone seeing them being implemented in practice and at scale? It is not enough to simply call for increased awareness of socially inclusive and behaviourally informed policy.
Our own journey over the past five years has involved diverse research and engagement activities to move from research to action. Based on foundational ethnographic and historical studies that helped us understand the behavioural systems in which conservation practices and long-term land use changes take place.
We facilitated the initial conversation between Indigenous highland communities and state authorities, which culminated in the production of a documentary in 2022: “Nurturing Lives in the Forest”. It tells of the historical and contemporary struggles in the northern Thai highlands, featuring the experiences of two generations of Karen and Hmong villagers.
Then, to actually bring together actors from the diverse landscape of stakeholders, and to better understand opportunities for innovative conservation action among them, we convened a 2-day policy conference on “Natural Resources and Indigenous Peoples”. Fifty participants included highland communities in Chiang Mai, the civil society and NGO sector, scholars, political activists, government agencies involved in forest conservation, local politicians, artists, and students. The forum helped community members to articulate the usefulness of academic research to support their voice and allowed government stakeholders to signal their openness to new approaches. But it also highlighted the important role of cultural practices in Indigenous peoples’ natural resource management as a key discussion point.
Figure 1: A district mayor with Indigenous background contributes to discussions at the “Natural Resources and Indigenous Peoples” conference. Photo credit: Marco J Haenssgen.
We subsequently honed in on “everyday environmental heritage” in the highland communities. This follow-on ethnographic research helped identify key cultural practices with direct relevance to forest health – such as the aforementioned tree ordination. A series of community consultations helped establish which practices are valued, which barriers exist to performing them, and what concretely can be done to support Indigenous peoples’ own cultural practices. To gather momentum for such action, villagers shared their insights and positions in a short 3-minute video clip aimed at Thai policy makers. The short but powerful message was simply: “come and see”.
Figure 2: The spiritual leader of a Pgaz K’ Nyau community comments on the role of heritage in protecting local forests. Photo credit: Marco J Haenssgen.
Ongoing policy engagement and piloting of new initiatives
But were policy makers and implementation partners interested? We investigated this in more recent efforts. Firstly, a roundtable discussion as part of a regional school art competition award event discussed practical solutions with respect to supporting highland food production with food experts in Chiang Mai including the Chiang Mai Food For Health Council, Smart Farmers Group, Mae Tha Organic Enterprise, and the Chiang Mai Food and Drug Administration. Secondly, the “Living with the Forest” exhibition involved a public discussion forum with members of the Thai parliament (Pheu Thai Party and Move Forward Party) together with a government advisor on nature resources and an Indigenous activist scholar. We learned from these activities that action is needed and valued, but we lack evidence of “what works” to support environmentally beneficial cultural practices from the bottom up.
To break into this unchartered terrain, our team is now piloting a basket of three policy options that respond to cultural practices in the behavioural systems of northern Thai highland communities. We are drawing on highland produce origin labels (reducing market pressures that prevent engagement with forests), behavioural tools to foster community forest stewardship (e.g. celebrating practices like fire break clearing and tree ordination), and the promotion of new heritage practices among Indigenous youths – supported by a grant from the British Academy.
Figure 3: Everyday environmental heritage is transported for instance through the production of Indigenous fabrics and clothing from natural materials – as in the case of this Hmong village. Photo credit: Marco J Haenssgen.
Global possibilities
Research shows that the world’s healthiest forests are found around Indigenous settlements. By including such communities in decision-making processes, countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Nepal and Taiwan have achieved sustainable outcomes while respecting local rights. Our research has relevance for many other contexts. In Nepal, low-income villages have displayed effective stewardship of riverine habitats by developing sustainable sanitation facilities, community gardens and a biogas plant. By their actions, they are overcoming life-threatening challenges such as waterborne diseases and contributed to preserving the local habitat and biodiversity. And in the mountains of central Taiwan, an Indigenous Tsou village has restored a state-run national forest by collectively and voluntarily regulating the use of resources in the area. As a result, they have revived the forest and established themselves as forest stewards.
The message is clear: by collaborating with Indigenous communities in inclusive policymaking, by acknowledging them as equal partners, we can make progress in the global mission to combat climate change.
Ivo Vlaev is Professor of Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick.
Marco J Haenssgen is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Science and Development at Chiang Mai University, where he has been conducting research on Indigenous people’s experiences of conservation policy and land use change. At present, he leads a research project funded by the British Academy to trial innovative policy pilots to support Indigenous environmental heritage in the Thai highlands.