Youth in Action for Next Generations

Youth in Action for the Next Generations is a global project based on the active involvement of young people from developed and developing countries in sustainable development. Organized by Pistes-Solidaires, a French non-profit organization that promotes justice and equality in an intercultural society and an interdependent world, the global project envisions sustainable-development education in a complete and transverse way.

This one-year project involves youth from eight countries in key educational topics that include cultural diversity, equality of the sexes, environment, rural development, durable urbanization, peace and human safety, durable consumption, and the promotion of health. The objectives include:

1. To permit the training of organizers and young people, by their peers, in sustainable development and to transfer the best practices;
2. To join together, share, capitalize and diffuse the existing good practices of Africa, Asia and Europe;
3. To organize the meeting and common of the work youth organizations who will constitute the network; and
4. To allow young people to initiate the strong innovating local projects with an international dimension

In Thailand, Andaman Discoveries collaborated with Mangrove Action Project, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, to create a network of ten youth groups in the North Andaman region. Participants share experiences and ideas on conservation, waste management, organic gardening, income-generating projects (such as making batik, cloth bags, and recycled-paper cards). A local seminar was held in October 2009 where youth presented their ideas and experiences. Andaman Discoveries hosted the final meeting in November 2009, which summarized the various outcomes and was attended by NGOs from the eight participating countries.

North Andaman Community Tourism (N-ACT) Network

Andaman Discoveries works closely with the North Andaman Community Tourism Network (N-ACT) to provide ongoing support to local communities in the North Andaman region of Southern Thailand interested in developing and practicing sustainable tourism. Funded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and administered by Andaman Discoveries, the objectives of N-ACT, which has now entered the second phase, are to:

• Build relationships between community tourism stakeholders leading to mutual benefit and ongoing cooperation;
• Increase promotion capacity for community tourism groups and local businesses; and
• Improve connections between tourism, community empowerment, and village-led conservation.

Since 2008, N-ACT has been active in working directly with community members in the region. Recent highlights include:

• Assessment and data gathering meetings with 41 NGOs and 23 government officers;
• Study tours for over 100 villagers from eight communities;
• Village-to-village exchange between six tourism groups;
• 96,000 baht income to community members generated through handicraft sales and study tours;
• A promotional trip leading to direct cooperation between five communities and nine tour operators; and
• Increased public exposure, including 22 media outlets, six universities, and two tourism associations.

Instead of relying on highly paid outside trainers who often lack local perspective, N-ACT leveraged successful local examples of community tourism to build capacity in neighboring communities. For example, earlier this year participants from four interested communities took part in mangrove and forest tours, homestay, volunteer activities, and livelihood discussions with their hosts. Thirty-nine community members participated, including 17 from communities interested in developing tourism. The study tour generated increased understanding of the process by which community-based tourism develops, and stimulated discussion of its positive and negative impacts.

The direct income and increased marketing capacity generated by N-ACT provide tangible benefits from sustainable resource use. The six "active" communities depend on the natural environment for tourism. Guiding, handicrafts, homestays, and cultural activities provide income for villagers who otherwise rely on fishing and resource extraction including logging, forest product collection, and hunting.

To be truly sustainable, direct links between tourism and conservation must be established. The tourism groups in four of N-ACT's "active" villages also function as conservation clubs, and support projects including orchid protection, waste management, and conservation of an endemic water lily. N-ACT is increasing demand for local conservation activities by linking community tourism groups to the private sector and developing promotional materials, such as the N-ACT Adventure Handbook, that highlight the natural and cultural resources of the area.

Ban Talae Nok Community Center

The Ban Talae Nok Community Centre was built using funds and volunteers from Andaman Discoveries (then North Andaman Tsunami Relief), shortly after the tsunami, primarily as a coordination and distribution facility for aid. It was crucial to the well-functioning of the community in the chaotic time after the tsunami.

During that time, villager-based committees were formed through various focus groups, including livelihood restoration, eco-tourism and environment, community development, and education/vocational training.

The Community Center at Ban Talae Nok was central to village life. The center provided myriad services — vocational training, informal education, an information center, aerobics space, a community-based tourism office, children's activity space, a handicraft production facility, a souvenir shop for local products, and a meeting space. Activities in the center included English lessons, summer camp for kids, and a waste management project.

Currently, the community center is home to the soap cooperative and the youth group, who use the center as a production space and as a location to conduct meetings and activities, respectively. The village has secured funding to refurbish a building in the village to serve as a permanent community center and thus ensure the continuation of this vital resource.

Waste Management

Andaman Discoveries has provided long term support for improved waste management in various villages since 2007. In particular, Ban Talae Nok now has a trash bin for every home as well as in public areas. After a series of campaigns and lobbying, the local government now makes weekly trips to collect the trash, and a recycler goes to the village to buy recyclable waste. With environmental education, more and more villagers get into the habit of collecting and separating recyclables.

The Ban Talae Nok Youth group has been encouraging younger members to Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse with the help of their fun and informative puppet shows. The group regularly collects the garbage in the village and on the beach. With donation from the Hannan Family, who visited in June, 2009, the group works to ensure that the village and the beach area are clean. The donation supports the purchase of snacks and drinks after the weekly cleanup.

In addition Ban Talae Nok now uses organic fertilizer, made from the compost of organic waste collected regularly from each household by the youth. This encourages villagers to continue reduce the amount of household waste by separating it into organic waste, recyclables, and other waste. Andaman Discoveries collaborated with Mangrove Action Project and International Union for Conservation of Nature, who provided the technical support and training to realize this goal.

Organic Garden

Andaman Discoveries encourages organic gardening to promote local self-sufficiency and good health by reducing the purchase of groceries. Mangrove Action Project and International Union for Conservation of Nature supported and trained Ban Talae Nok youth in organic gardening techniques. The result is six garden plots where vegetables such as lemon grass, long beans, chilies, galanga, eggplants, and morning glory are locally grown. Approximately 20 houses have been given seedlings to grow fresh vegetables, with the goal of even more villagers growing their own food. Andaman Discoveries will provide continuous support by developing organic gardening into a regular village tour activity.

Bamboo-Saving Project

The Bamboo Saving Project is the brainchild of "Pink," the Ban Talae Nok youth group leader and a mother who wanted to teach village children the importance of saving. All the village children made a bamboo moneybox, which they put all their leftover school money into each day. Every three months, the children break the bamboo and see who has collected the most money, which is then moved into their bank account. "It's better to save than waste money on sweets," said 11-year-old Alongkorn Punchung, who plans to buy his mom a gift with his money.

Mangrove Restoration

Local wisdom appreciates the value of the mangrove forests; they are a diverse eco-system and play an important part in the marine and terrestrial environment. Many areas in the North Andaman were protected from the tsunami by the mangroves, and villagers are now taking a proactive part in their conservation and restoration. In addition to replanting mangrove habitat where it was destroyed by the tsunami, the villagers are simultaneously implementing standards to monitor and assess their progress, such as tracking diversity and mapping survival rates.

Andaman Discoveries is supporting several community-led projects in a variety of villages and helping to coordinate regional conservation projects at village level. Volunteers are always welcome to join the collecting, planting, and monitoring activities as a hands-on activity.

The mangroves are a fascinating ecosystem: their dense tangle of roots are home to an amazing variety of species, including tree-climbing mud-skipper fish, crab-eating monkeys, and flying fish. They play a vital part in the larger marine and terrestrial ecosystem, acting to connect the two very different environments.

Mangroves trees are land-based plants that have evolved several features that allow them to inhabit oxygen deficient mud. These include roots that grow upwards, seeds that germinate before they fall from the parent tree, and some species that pump excess salt onto their leaf surface to avoid a harmful buildup. They act as a nursery for shrimp larvae, oysters, crabs, and a variety of fish — many of the fish you see while snorkeling grew up in the mangrove root system. The marine productivity of the Andaman Coast is dependent on the mangroves, and the fishing industry owes its existence to it.

In the past, the mangroves were removed to provide wood to build houses and make charcoal. Nowadays, the mangroves are under threat from large-scale shrimp farms (usually for exported Black tiger prawns). Shrimp farms have a life expectancy of three to five years before the soil is so full of bacteria and chemicals that it can't be used any longer, forcing farmers to then clear another section of mangrove forest. Shrimp farms also pump all their nutrient-rich waste into the surrounding mangrove ecosystem, greatly impacting the natural balance of nutrients and chemicals in the soil. This greatly reduces oxygen levels in the soil and leads to the suffocation of many species. Other threats include palm oil and rubber plantations, ports, roads, and continued urban and tourist encroachment.

Andaman Discoveries, in collaboration with Mangrove Action Project and International Union for Conservation of Nature, are assisting the youth group of Ban Talae Nok to restore magrove forests on encroached land. Planting nipa palm, which is commonly found in mangrove forests and is a durable natural roofing material, is a first step towards restoring the land through a natural process.

You can encourage your local guide to share more knowledge about the mangroves — ask how the villagers used the mangroves in the past for food, medicinal remedies, thatching, cigarette papers, and for raising fish. Asking questions and being interested in the environment is a great way to demonstrate to the villagers that the mangroves are worth protecting, and that they may be able to earn additional income from carefully managed mangrove eco-tourism. It also creates a sense of pride about the region.

Tung Nang Dam Orchid Conservation

Orchids are popular decorations for homes and restaurants, and are becoming an increasingly rare sight in the jungle as a result of over-harvesting. Noi, a former Andaman discoveries vocational student from Tung Nang Dam, has started a project aimed at restoring the orchid population. The process involves transplanting cuttings from orchid stalks and incubating them in a community nursery; once mature, the seedlings are returned to the forest. The villagers are now educating others about the importance of conservation. The Orchid Conservation project is an excellent example of community-led conservation and shows what's possible with a small start-up fund and plenty of encouragement. This is a highly enjoyable volunteer activity, popular with people of all ages.

Handicrafts — Income Generating Projects

To provide supplementary income to those affected by the tsunami in the North Andaman area, Andaman Discoveries provided training and marketing assistance to handicraft groups in a number of villages. Handicrafts include: soap, batik, tie dye, and handmade cards from recycled paper. Andaman Discoveries supports these groups through interactive soap and batik making workshops, an online store, and a local craft sales display in our office.

The Ban Talae Nok youth group is now producing recycled paper cards, a project Andaman Discoveries has supportde since the tsunami through training and marketing. Andaman Discoveries supplies waste office paper, which the group uses to make greeting cards. In addition, "Pink," the youth group leader, was inspired to make bags from recycled materials such as used paper, plastic, and scrap cloth. The group is currently refining their process and design, and plan to start selling these products as guest souvenirs and through the Andaman Discoveries gift shop and online store in 2010.

The Ban Talae Nok soap cooperative is making substantial progress in domestic marketing, garnering increasing interest from hotels and crafts shops in Bangkok, Khao Lak, and Phuket.

Long-Term Scholarships

Andaman Discoveries administers long-term scholarships to a total of 135 students, providing financial support for primary and secondary school education for a total of seven years (2005-2011). Our criteria for acceptance into the program includes: financial need, tsunami-affected status, motivation of the applicant, academic performance, community service, and the opinion of our village contacts. Almost 300 children initially applied to the program.

The cost of sending children to school has always been a challenge for needy families, and the loss of income after the tsunami made this an even greater challenge. The earning capacity of many families was halved, and some remain without sufficient income. Despite these obstacles, families place a high value in education as a means for opportunity.

Our staff regularly monitors the sponsored students through a mandatory yearly interview with the child and parents. We receive an update on the child's well-being, academic performance, and community service activities. Upon satisfactory completion of the interview, we then transfer funds for uniforms and school supplies. Each year, children are required to send a copy of their grades and proof of registration for the next school year. Sponsors are provided with regular updates on their child's performance, including a hand-written letter from the child.

We have partnered with several organizations in order to ensure the long-term viability of the program, and are grateful to these sponsors for providing a full seven years of funding. Sponsors include Annika Linden Foundation, Tanglin Trust, Helen Doron Group, Rotary Club of Koh Samui, Tomas & Thisbe Ander Memorial Fund, Whatever Pte. Ltd.

Andaman Discoveries would like to expand the program to include even more deserving children. If you would like to support a child with a scholarship, please contact us for more details.