DNP surveys growing Karen population
Department fears more park encroachment
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plantation (DNP) has begun verifying the number of Karen people living in the Bang Kloi community in the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi.
The department ordered a committee to run a verification process.
This comes after an unusual increase of occupants in the forest was detected by officials. It is possible that ethnic Karen people are expanding their farms to over 1,100 rai of forest land around the community, they say.
Prakit Vongsrivattanakul, the deputy chief of the department, said the DNP is working with stakeholders to determine who are the members of the original families that settled in Bang Kloi.
About 300 families first settled in the community. The number has now risen…
