Himmapaan Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
During an inspection tour of Chiang Mai Province that she made at the end of December, the TAT Governor, Mrs. Phornsiri Manoharn undertook the journey to the hill tribe village of Ban Ton Loong, which is the site of the well known Lisu Lodge. The invitation to visit this award winning eco-lodge had been extended by Mrs. Chananya Phataraprasit, Executive Director of Asian Oasis Co. during an earlier meeting in November at the TAT Headquarters in Bangkok. The specific purpose of that meeting had been to brief the Governor on the plans of East West Siam to start a program of high quality forest restoration. It is well known in the industry that Mrs. Manoharn has a keen interest in both community based tourism and in environmental protection and she responded to the initiative with immediate enthusiasm.
What East West Siam has done is to select three plots of land near the Lisu Lodge for an innovative reforestation project that will carry the name Himmapaan, a mythical forest that can be likened to a Garden of Eden for Thai Buddhists and that artists portray to demonstrate the bounties of nature.
The Himmapaan project will give the guests of the lodge the opportunity to participate in an active program of carbon offsetting. This does not mean that they will merely engage in a ritual of planting parallel rows of ‘make-us-feel-good trees’ but the exercise is set up as a workshop to show them how a forest ecosystem can be recreated by planting a careful selection of seedlings of complementing species. The program follows the guidelines developed by Dr Steve Elliot of Chiang Mai University and its aim is to recreate forest structure that will sustain biodiversity recovery.
The Himmapaan project is organized in conjunction with the Green World Foundation (GWF), a nonprofit organization that collaborates closely with groups of young people, educators and community leaders throughout Thailand to inspire the development and adoption of environmental ethics and proactively contribute to the care of the local environment. The ultimate goal is to create wildlife corridors that link newly planted areas to the remaining patches of natural forest.
During her visit the Governor complimented Mr. Rachet Wapeetha and Mrs. Yaowanit Boonchoonsilp on their management of the Lisu Lodge and said that she had received nothing but positive feedback about the lodge from overseas agents and foreign media, so she was excited to finally have the chance to witness its charms herself. She visited the shaman’s house, asked lots of questions and spoke extensively about new markets to which the village and Lisu Lodge should be promoted, such as for example those of Australia and New Zealand.
As a pilot project that originally was initiated in 1993 the Lisu Lodge has set a new standard for local community involvement. It received the Conde Nast Ecotourism Award and the British Airways 'Tourism for Tomorrow' award and has become the living proof that the basic principles of responsible tourism can make a positive impact on the environment and offer a sensible contribution to the local community at the same time.