The Application of Social capital Against Management of Natural Resources: A Case Study of Banhoaisaphan-samakkhi Community Forestry, Nongrong Subdistrict, Phanomthuan District, Kanchanaburi Province
Abstract:
The objectives of this study are 1) to study social capital which appears in Banhoaisaphan-samakkhi Community; 2) to study the application of social capitalto natural resource management of a community, a case study of Banhoaisaphan-
samakkhi Community Forest. This study is conducted mainly by qualitative research process and in-depth interview with 15 important information providers together with the observation and the literature review from documents. Also, the accuracy of the information is verified by data triangulation. The analysis is done by the
classification and consideration of content consistency based on the logical principle in comparison with concepts, theories as well as community contexts. The results of the study demonstrate that:
1. The social capital that appears in Banhoaisaphan-samakkhi Community
consists of 1) the knowledge dimension which comprises body of knowledge, wisdom and potentiality of people and leaders; 2) the goodness dimension which comprises social norm and social culture, traditions and beliefs as well as 3) the love dimension which comprises trust, reciprocal generosity as well as social institution and social network. According to the research, the most outstanding social capital of Baan HuaySapanSamakke Community is the love dimension, i.e., social network, followed by the goodness dimension, i.e, social norm and the knowledge dimension, i.e., potentiality of people and leaders.
2. The application of social capital or the movement towards desirable society consists of the following steps: 1) to perceive and realize the problem;
2) to experiment in order to bring about changes; 3) to plan and specify goals; 4) to gather and create a network; 5) to gather capital; 6) to take action and 7) to conclude and evaluate. The movement has been conducted through an activity set with the help of social capital inside the community which is the community forest. The research demonstrates that there are 3 levels of the application of social capital of Banhoaisaphan-samakkhi Community, which are: 1) the level for the benefit of personal lives and families; 2) the level for the benefit of groups or networks and
3) the level for the community development groups or networks.
The suggestions from the research are: 1) in terms of capital management, the committee who takes care of the community forest should have a management
plan in order to put aside sufficient capital for the use of the community or the organization of activities. It is also possible to generate profits from saving for the community forest management for greater sustainability of community forest
management and 2) in terms of knowledge distribution, there should be an
opportunity to create the new generation of leaders and to let them cooperate
with the old generation. The knowledge, techniques, methods and anecdotes from the old generation will be applied in the knowledge distribution. Also, the community forest will be utilized more worthily and sustainably.