The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment ( Abrv: MNRE; th, กระทรวงทรัพยากรธรรมชาติและสิ่งแวดล้อม, ) is a cabinet ministry in the

Government of Thailand The Government of Thailand, or formally the Royal Thai Government ( Abrv: RTG; th, รัฐบาลไทย, , ), is the unitary government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The country emerged as a modern nation state after the foundation of ...

History

The ministry was founded in 2002. Its responsibilities include the protection of the nation's natural resources: water, oceans, minerals, and forests. It is also responsible for the protection and restoration of the environment. It vision is "to return the natural environment to the Thai people and to work towards the incorporation of natural resources and the environment in the Government's national agenda as these provide the basis for social and economic development."

Departments

Administration

*Office of the Minister *Office of the Permanent Secretary

Dependent departments

* Department of Mineral Resources * Department of Marine and Coastal Resources ** Phuket Marine Biological Center * Department of Water Resources * Department of Groundwater Resources * Royal Forest Department *

Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation The Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), th, กรมอุทยานแห่งชาติ สัตว์ป่า และพันธุ์พืช) is an agency of the Ministry of Natural Resources and E ...

* Office of the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) * Department of Environmental Quality Promotion * Pollution Control Department

State enterprises

*The Botanical Garden Organization of Thailand ** Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai *The Forest Industry Organization **The National Elephant Institute *Watchan Eco-Tourism *The Thai Plywood Company Limited *Wastewater Management Authority *Zoological Park Organization **

Dusit Zoo Dusit Zoo ( th, สวนสัตว์ดุสิต) or popularly known as Khao Din Wana (เขาดินวนา) and Khao Din (เขาดิน) was a zoo in Bangkok, Thailand. Located at Khao Din Park in Bangkok's Dusit District next ...

(closed in 2018) **

Khao Kheow Open Zoo Khao Kheow Open Zoo th, สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว) is a large zoo in Thailand. It covers an area of about 2,000 acres and contains more than 8,000 animals from more than 300 species. The zoo is located in Si Rac ...

Chiang Mai Zoo Chiang Mai Zoo and Aquarium is a zoo on Huay Kaew Road, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, just west of Chiang Mai University. It is the first commercial zoo in northern Thailand, established on 16 June 1977. History In 1950 the US government sent ...

Chiang Mai Night Safari Chiang Mai Night Safari ( th, เชียงใหม่ไนท์ซาฟารี) is located in the sub-district of Mae Hia in Chiang Mai, and the district Nong Khwai, and the district Hang Dong. The zoo is located west of Royal Park Ra ...

**Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo **Songkhla Zoo

Public organizations

* Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO) * Biodiversity-Based Economy Development Office

Environmental initiatives

* In August 2015, the MNRE announced a program to "encourage people to refrain from using plastic bags." The initiative is aimed at promoting the use of cloth bags one day a month beginning on 15 August and on the 15th day of every month thereafter. The campaign will be expanded to two to three days a week instead of once a month if public response is positive. Thailand could lower the use of plastic bags by as many as one million bags a day if everyone used one fewer plastic bag a day. The program was partially superseded by Thailand's ban on single-use plastic bags at major retail outlets as of 1 January 2020. * MNRE's master plan is the ''20-Year Strategic Plan for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (B.E. 2560 – 2579)'' covering the years 2016–2016. It outlines six strategies to address environmental issues, including addressing climate change (Strategy Five).

Issues

Forests

The first strategy in MNRE's strategic plan is to "protect forest areas". Forested areas in Thailand include conservation forests of 80.88 million

rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

(129,408 km²); national conservation forests of 53.80 million rai (86,080 km²); and mangrove areas of 1.534 million rai (2,454 km²). The first line of forest defense are the roughly 20,000 forest rangers from three departments of MNRE: the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation; the Royal Forest Department; and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources. Their work is hazardous: ten forest rangers were killed in the line of duty over the previous 12-month period. Despite the danger and the importance of their work, they are temporary workers on one or four year contracts. The one-year rangers earn from 7,500 to 9,000

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...

per month. The four-year contract rangers can earn "...more than 10,000 baht salary per month." Temporary workers are not eligible for government health coverage.

Plastic waste

Thailand will move to ban the import of all

plastic waste Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

products. Initially MNRE will ban the import of 411 types of e-waste. The import of all plastic wastes will be banned in the next two years. "We need to prioritise good environment and the health of our citizens over industrial development," said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Surasak Kanchanarat. Some exceptions will be allowed: the new laws will allow the import of used electronic telecommunication products and copying machines for repair and reuse. Steel, copper, and aluminum scraps will be allowed for industrial if the scraps are clean and not mixed with other substances. Imports of electronic and plastic waste resulting in massive piles of scrap were turning the country into the "world's garbage bin".

References

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Natural Resources and Environment Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

Mining in Thailand Thailand, Natural Resources and Environment 2002 establishments in Thailand

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Environmental agencies in Thailand