Hopea odorata Roxb. var. odorata, known locally as ตะเคียน Takien is a member of the family Dipterocarpaceae .

Seed production of some species in the Dipterocarp family can vary greatly between years and a year where large number of trees produce many seed is known as a mast year.

The year 2011  was a mast year for Hopea in Chiang Mai and the Huey Keow Arboretum nursery is growing young trees from locally collected seed.

Ten kilometres to the north at Huey Teng Tao there is a stream with two old Hopea trees. In the past five years I can recall seeing neither seed nor seedlings from these trees despite the fact the environment is suitable for growing Hopeas, until that is, fire comes along.  Hopeas have been successfully grown along two of the streams leading into the dam at Huey Teng Tao with Gum Hak Doi Suthep planting nursery raised trees and also seed directly into the moist earth along the stream.

The picture, taken 3rd September 2011, shows young Hopeas growing in the moisture along the stream edges.

Many seedlings were also observed up the slope and a little upstream from the parent tree. Only two old trees from the original Hopea dominated gallery forest remain and apart from this years extraordinary recruitment no other Hopeas are to be found. Of the number which had been planted in recent years and grown well, all were killed by fire in 2010.

Fire is not the only threat to the forest here. Both the remaining old Hopeas now face death from the construction of check dams, by Rotary International of Chiang Mai, which have caused massive erosion .

Urgent work is required to demolish these dams and place stones and sand around the roots of the old trees. This requires that the concrete be manually broken with hammers and extreme  care taken ensure Hopea seedlings are not trampled or buried.

The lesson here and also from elswhere in the Doi Suthep-Pui national Park is that check dams do not produce the claimed benefits to the environment. Rather they create erosion, disrupt the natural stream ecology of invertebrates travelling along the stream and divert money and a great deal of well intentioned effort from useful work such as weed control.

At the beginning of August many seedlings were seen growing in sand washed down from upstream.

These have now vanished beneath a new layer of sand washed down in the latest storms and the volume of sand is high because erosion continues unabated around the check dams.

This picture on the left was taken in May when hundreds of seedlings were observed.

Also growing here is Mikania micranthra or Mile-A-Minute. This rampant weed needs to be controlled to prevent destruction of young trees.

The area shown in these photos is of special significance for the study of forest regeneration in Chiang Mai.

As the land is managed by the Thai Army it is to be hoped that the management cooperate with Rotary International, CMU researchers and community volunteers to cordon off this area from destructive trampling, remove the dams, prevent fire and control weeds. We may then have a true Ecotourism site worthy of visiting by people birds and forest animals.

Doi Suthep-Pui National Park is noted for its floral diversity but due to forest degredation and the delimitation of its boundaries at least two forest communities would be properly included in the park are in practice absent.

One is the lowland riverine forest community characterised by dominant trees notably Hopea odorata, Aphanamixis polystachya, Toona ciliata, Holoptelea integrafolia, Celtis spp., Salix tetrasperma, Eugenia formosa,,Terminalia bellirica, Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Ficus callosa, Drypetes roxburghii and Cleidon spiciflorum. Fragmented remnants of this community, mostly as old trees exist in the park at Mae Hia Nai.

Fragments of a second riparian plant community can be found just outside the park boundary south of the Mok Fah Waterfall in Mae Daeng District. There two species not found in the park have been identified.

One is Pometia pinnata and is shown inthe photo here. Just remember the P sign is not for parking but for Pometia. These trees were raised from seedlings collected from the Huey Rong Waterfall in Phrae and Gum Hak Doi Suthep has had them planted at Huey Teng Tao, Mae Sa Waterfall, Mok Fah Waterfall and here at Montatarn Waterfall.

This Tuesday from 4.00 pm we plan to plant seedlings we raised of Chisocheton siamensis at Montatarn Waterfall and do some weed control to encourage natural regeneration of trees from the surrounding forest.

Some recently planted trees in this area include Teak (Tectona grandis) and Rain Trees (Samanea saman), neither of which are native in the moist forest of  Doi Suthep and the Rain Tree being from America.

We can suggest to the park management that these trees be removed.

ASEAN Senior Forestry Officials Conference

4-8 July 2011
9 am-5 pm daily @ Le Meridien Hotel, Chiang Mai Thailand
Open to the public 4-6 July

Days 1 & 2 have 2 concurrent discussions

Day 3 -  July 6th

Last night I had dinner and a long talk with Mr Hak a US resident of Chiang Mai and covered issues such as the ignorance of the US electorate and what Hak described as the Military-Industrial-Banking-Media Complex or Consipracy.  Hak is no ordinary American and is familiar with the leading critic of his country’s foreign policy. But sad to say Hak, like many environmentalists, is pessimistic about our chances of avoiding climate catastrophe, so after dinner when I found this interview, I thought I should post it to give some hope -  Ricky :

German Magazine DIE ZEIT chomsky interview (English AND GERMAN)

Read more: http://chomsky-must-read.blogspot.com/2011/06/german-magazine-die-zeit-chomsky.html#ixzz1QeNTzgK8

Picture a churchyard. What do you see? Where I come from churchyards generally come round pretty ancient and atmospheric. Dark, wet, stone and slate, ivy and thick green moss smothering the crumbling gravestones, all brooding in the shadow of holly and cypress trees; always a place in which you cannot separate the building, from the natural world;

Well, here in Northern Thailand, you’d be hard pressed to find a church to fit this stereotype. The Acts of Compassion Church in Pa Daet couldn’t be more unlike this image; a modern structure of steel and concrete with an out-door eating area and a football pitch, all set within earshot of the busy Hangdong Road.

But, they’ve got the right idea about nature, and have teamed up with the students of Lanna International School and Gum Hak Doi Suthep to begin to create a more healthy natural environment.

On thefirst Friday in June  a group of seven volunteers planted trees to cover an area of over one rai. The area is at the back of the church and the group were able to plant over thirty trees, which will, in a few years, create an area of unbroken shade that will help to keep the whole place cool. The trees were of about twelve different species, all were locally sourced and, more importantly, all were species that grow naturally in the forests of Northern Thailand. The students were very proud of their work –which was hot and tiring- and wanted to offer their planting services to anyone who, like the Acts Church, is ecologically progressive.

Anyone interested should contact the author Dave Arthurs – davidarthurs@lannaist.ac.th.

Readers who like to visit Huey Teng Tao with its ornamental dam 12 km north of Chiang Mai along te Irrigation Canal Rd may not have seen recent destruction of forest there.

In January an area of young forest which had been planted over a period of 4 years by various school groups was bulldozed in order to make a car park for a 3 day music event.

As a result many trees died but a good number have resprouted and are now being swamped with weed growth.

Students from CMU Engineering faculty have been asked to come and help hand weed the small Mimosa and other American weeds and all comers are welcome. Please bring gardening gloves, drinking water and a sickle if possible.

Enquiries : Ricky  0849859668

เมื่อวันที่ 16 พฤษภาคม ที่บริเวณจุดตรวจทหารพราน ปากทางเข้าหมู่บ้านท่าอาจ ตำบลท่าสายลวด อำเภอแม่สอด จังหวัดตาก พันเอกนพดล วัชรจิตบวร ผู้บังคับหน่วยเฉพาะกิจกรมทหารพรานที่ 35 อ.แม่สอด ร่วมกับทหารหน่วยเฉพาะกิจกรมทหารราบที่ 4 อ.แม่สอด และเจ้าหน้าที่ศุลกากรแม่สอด จับกุมขบวนการค้าสัตว์ป่าคุ้มครองเป็นตัวนิ่ม 53 ตัว ที่ซุกซ่อนอยู่ท้ายรถยนต์เก๋ง ยี่ห้อฮอนด้าซิตี้ สีบรอนซ์เทา หมายเลขทะเบียน ชฉ 6901 กรุงเทพมหานคร และควบคุมตัวนายจิรศักดิ์ ท้าวอินถา อายุ 35 ปี โดยตัวนิ่มทั้งหมดบางตัวตายแล้วมีกลิ่นเน่าเหม็น บางตัวยังเป็น ทั้งหมดอยู่ในถุงตาข่ายสีฟ้า หลังตรวจสอบแล้วไม่พบเอกสารการเคลื่อนย้ายสัตว์ใดๆ จึงนำตัวนายจีรศักดิ์ พร้อมของกลางส่งมอบศุลกากรแม่สอด เพื่อดำเนินคดีข้อหานำสินค้ามาจากฝั่งประเทศพม่า
เจ้าหน้าที่แจ้งว่า สัตว์ทั้งหมดเป็นสัตว์ป่าคุ้มครอง และสืบทราบว่า มีขบวนการค้าสัตว์ป่าคุ่มครองโดยนำเข้ามาจากประเทศพม่า และมีเป้าหมายส่งต่อไปยังจังหวัดหนองคาย จากนั้นส่งไปประเทศลาว ส่งต่อชายแดนจีนอีกครั้งหนึ่ง ซึ่งตัวนิ่มเป็นที่นิยมของชาวจีนด้วย จึงนำไปจำหน่ายได้ราคาดี นอกจากนี้พบ สมุดบันทึกค่าใช้จ่ายในการเคลื่อนย้ายตัวนิ่ม โดยระบุจ่ายให้ตำรวจ สภ.แม่สอด และเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจป่าไม้ และเจ้าหน้าที่ป่าไม้ด้วย นอกจากนี้แม่เลี้ยงรายใหญ่ที่เป็นนายทุนพยายามเข้าไปขอต่อรองคดีเพื่อจ่ายเงินสินบนให้กับทหารพราน แต่ฝ่ายทหารไม่ยินยอม