Sustaining Thailand’s forests

Nopparat Saiboongerd is more accustomed to generating finance reports than saplings, but that all changed when she decided to participate in the NZI Thailand volunteer program.

Now in its fifth year, the NZI Forest Protection project enlists NZI employees and student volunteers to get their hands dirty and help regenerate Thailand’s precious and dwindling rainforests. The weekend reforestation project invited students, journalists, and NZI employees to spend two days in the mountains at an environmental learning class.

“I really enjoyed getting out of the office and working with the students,” Nopparat said. “And it felt like I was really helping the environment.”

The project has been conducted in the Pang Ma Mountain range, a significant forest area in Thailand’s northeast that was once teeming with wildlife. Recent deforestation of the area has led to decreased wildlife and environmental degradation.

NZI Thailand joined up with the country’s leading conservation organisation, Wildlife Fund Thailand (WFT), to encourage young people to learn about the results of re-forestation first hand.

“I was really surprised by just how much we were able to plant over one weekend, and also by how much damage there was to the area,” commented Nopparat. “The students worked really hard, and it was good fun getting to know each other.”

The project aims to raise the students’ and NZI employees’ awareness of the impacts of environmental degradation, and the contribution this makes to climate change. Thailand, as a low-lying tropical country, is highly susceptible to climate change and its potential impacts, such as increased flooding and higher temperatures.

This annual event at NZI is now firmly fixed on the company’s calendar. Nopparat is keen to do it again.

“I’ll definitely participate again next year. There’s still a lot of work to do and I’m proud of my contribution.”