Fire is used in tropical regions as an effective way to burn forests and thereby minimizing labour input in different forms of farming systems and forest utilizations. This includes Northern Thailand, where field studies for this report were conducted January 2005. The aim of the report is to investigate how fire management practises of a Karen hill tribe affects their livelihood strategies.
Being situated next to the Ob Luang National Park (estab. 1991), where the use of fire is prohibited legally, the implementation of proper fire management practises in the local community for controlling the spreading of fire has become essential for the village community.
The creation and maintenance of a firebreak since the mid 1990s surrounding the village was an effective method of protecting the villages from uncontrolled fires originating outside the village community. This has a dual purpose of protecting their access to the limited natural resources around the village boundaries and protection from uncontrolled fires outside of the village community.
The local institutional arrangements regarding fire management seemed effective in the area. They could be described in terms of a strategy for community participation aimed at solving overall livelihood constraints imposed from outside the community.
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