Interactions between cattle rattle raising and reforestation in the highland socio-ecosystem Nan province, Northern Thailand : a companion modelling process to improve landscape management

Abstract

The expansion of protected and reforestation areas in the head watersheds of northern Thailand, a region severely affected by deforestation during the past decades, is forcing the local farms to adapt rapidly and is at the origin of frequent land use conflicts between farmers and foresters. If the former state that cattle grazing is having a positive effect on forest regeneration, the latter disagree. Based on an interdisciplinary and multi-scale diagnostic analysis, the thesis presents the conception and implementation of a companion modelling (ComMod) process, involving different types of Hmong herders and two government forest agencies, that was designed to mediate such a local land use conflict in Nan province. Three successive sequences of collaborative modelling and simulation activities relying on as many versions of a computer-assisted role-playing game adapted to the evolution of the participants focus of interest were implemented to (i) improve communication, knowledge exchange, and trust between herders and foresters, (ii) simulate the introduction of artificial pastures in the local forest – farm land interface, in association or not with the rotation and collective management of the herds, and (iii) introduce the herders to the use of simulations to explore possible future land use scenarios in their village. Following this collaborative modelling and knowledge integration process, an autonomous agent-based model was built and used to explore, in the laboratory at this stage, several scenarios proposed by the local stakeholders regarding the evolution of livestock rearing practices facing reforestation efforts and the establishment of a new national park. We show how the ComMod process was able to reconcile the two conflicting parties and facilitated the joint adoption of a common action plan relying on an experiment to assess the management of Brachiaria ruziziensis pastures under highland environmental conditions. The analysis of interactions between the different types of participants and sources of knowledge involved in this modelling process leads to the proposition of several follow-up activities. One consists in out-scaling this kind of learning by simulating exercises with other communities facing similar land use conflicts, and another deals with the use of the family of models coconstructed with the local stakeholders in teaching and training future renewable resource managers in rural areas