Thai Scouts celebrate 100th anniversary by planting trees

To mark the 100th anniversary of the World Scouting Movement; the Thai Scouts Promotion Foundation launched a tree planting project aimed at planting over 100,000 trees in 2008. The project was initiated in collaboration with the Royal Initiative of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand named “Forestation without replanting”, the Royal Initiative of HM the Queen Sirikit on Environmental Conservation and the World Organization of Scouting Movement (WOSM).

The scouts, together with villagers and local elephant caretakers, planted trees which will become food and medicine for wild animals. The trees were planted along elephant trails so that they would be naturally used by elephants and other animals.

Selected varieties of trees that are nearly becoming extinct were cultivated by tissue culture technique at Kasetsart University. These seedlings, used by the local community as medicinal herbs, include; Xylia xylocarpa Taub used as a fresh wound treatment for elephants, Dillenia obovata Hoogland used as a remedy for an infected wound, Careya sphaerica Roxb for treating skin disease in elephants, and Tinospora Cordifortia for boosting elephants’ energy.

The scouts delivered the seeds to remote areas by car, motor boats and air force’s helicopter; the plants were watered by automated sprinklers; and mobile cranes were used to carry and plant giant trees, buying or exchanging seeds from other communities as well as foreign countries.

Rover Scouts from Pathumwan Institute of Technology, in cooperation with scouts from Kanchanaburi camped and rode 9 elephants across the hills and water streams. The scouts carried over 500,000 tamarinds, jackfruits and other kind of plant seeds collected or bought from various places. Feeding elephants with seed fruits such as wild jackfruit, feeding birds and squirrels with Governor plum and feeding buffalos with Rain Tree pods. After feeding on the fruits, the seeds are excreted with animal dung, and the plants grow naturally.

They threw out and slingshot the seeds while walking or riding elephants. Archery, paper planes and seed shooting by ancient catapult were used as tools for distributing seeds into moist ground along the trail. Rubber balloons were also used for carry hundreds of seeds into deeper jungle. One hundred ripe coconuts were released while floating rafts downstream from Runtee creek to Srinakharin Dam and Mae Klong River.

At least 10,000 trees were grown by the scouts within one day operation and will result in planting more than 100,000 trees all over the country within one year.