ALERT launches campaign to save imperiled Thai forest
ALERT is helping to spearhead an international campaign to oppose the Thailand government’s plan to dramatically enlarge a roadway through one of its most important natural areas.
Big roads mean big impacts on wildlife (photo © WWF-Malaysia/Lau Ching Fong)
A press release from ALERT is being distributed today to over 800 media outlets worldwide.
A two-lane road, called Highway 304, cuts through the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) Forest Complex, a World Heritage Site in central Thailand renowned for its outstanding biodiversity. Now the Thai government wants to enlarge it into a much larger, four-lane highway.
From an environmental perspective, this project is truly dangerous.
The DPKY area is a hotspot for nature — the largest tract of surviving forest in central Thailand and a globally famous tourist destination. It sustains a wealth of wildlife including Asian elephants, Gaur, Dhole, Leopards, several species of hornbills and gibbons, and over 2,500 plant species.
ALERT scientists fear that a greatly enlarged highway will fragment the park’s wildlife populations, increase road kill of animals from fast-moving vehicles, and make it easier for illegal loggers and poachers to invade the park.
Unfortunately, plans to enlarge the highway were fast-tracked by the current Thai government, and there was minimal opportunity for expert opinion or public comment.
Opposition to the road project has been led by a Thai environmental group known as the Stop Global Warming Association -- but that group and Thai conservationists direly need international publicity and support.
The United Nations could declare the area a World Heritage Site in Danger if the government doesn’t show a stronger commitment to protecting this globally unique ecosystem.
Many believe the plan to expand Highway 304 should never have been proposed in the first place. Enlarging the highway could irreparably damage one of Thailand’s most vital ecosystems — and that would be a global tragedy.