Walailak University offers Free Educational Outreach: Low-Carbon Tourism for Sustainability in the “Nipa Palm” Agricultural Area of Khanap Nak Community, Pak Panang District,
Nakhon Si Thammarat Province
On August 3, 2024, the School of Management at Walailak University organized a field study program to provide free educational opportunities to local community members about low-carbon tourism in the agricultural area “Nipa Palm” in the Khanab Naak community, Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand, in order to promote tourism and sustainability. The School of Management has carried out four major activities, as follows:
- Preliminary survey of needs for tourism activities that promote sustainability of the agricultural area “Nipa Palm”
Since June 2024, the School of Management, led by Dr. Sukhuman Klamsaengsai, has surveyed the needs of the community through interviews and focus group meetings on the implementation of activities that promote the sustainability of the nipa palm agricultural area by using sustainable tourism activities under the concept of low-carbon tourism as one of the tools to care for the “Nipa Palm” resource of Khanap Nak community, Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. It was discovered that the villagers were interested in and wanted to know information about the management guidelines for the use of nipa palm forest areas through low-carbon tourism activities, as well as knowledge about carbon footprints, carbon Absorption, and carbon credits in nipa palm forest areas to be useful in caring for nipa palm forest resources appropriately.
- Assessment of basic knowledge and understanding about low carbon tourism in “Nipa Palm” agricultural area
In addition, a team of instructors and staff created a field survey tool to gather questionnaires from 150 village representatives in Khanap Nak Subdistrict’s nine villages to assess their fundamental knowledge and awareness of low-carbon tourism and carbon-related issues. The study discovered that 90.67 percent were unaware of the guidelines for using low-carbon tourism to benefit mangrove forest conservation, while 100 percent were interested in learning more about low-carbon tourism, carbon footprints, carbon absorption, and carbon credits in the nipa palm agricultural area.
- Delivery of Training
Thirty people, including representatives of community enterprise groups, community leaders, and villagers interested in low-carbon tourism in the nipa palm agricultural area, attended the free training project “Providing knowledge about low-carbon tourism in nipa palm agricultural area in Khanab Nak community, Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province” on August 3, 2024, at Kok Mamuang Temple, Khanab Nak Subdistrict, Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laksanara Khwanchum, a lecturer at the School of Management and an expert on environmental management and carbon footprint assessment, gave a lecture on carbon footprint, carbon absorption, and carbon credit. Dr. Sukhuman Klamsaengsai of the Tourism and Hotel Management Program gave a training on the definition and features of low-carbon tourism.
Furthermore, in the training activities, there was a knowledge test (pre-test and post-test), which the post-training scores (minimum score, maximum score, and average score) were higher than the pre-training scores. In addition, the villagers reflected that they could apply their knowledge to reduce energy consumption, waste separation, and conserve resources and the way of life of the “nipa palm” to become a learning area for foreign tourists and youth in the area.
- Educational media provision
The School of Management has also created and produced educational media, “Low-Carbon Tourism in Nipa Palm Agricultural Area,” a three-minute video clip, to be given to students and villagers in the area in order to promote the widespread transfer of knowledge and understanding about low-carbon tourism in the Nipa Palm Agricultural Area.
Additionally, in order to jointly design low-carbon tourism routes and programs, as well as calculate and compare the carbon footprint of low-carbon tourism activities with general tourism activities, the School of Management also plans to work with the community to drive the enterprise group to carry out low-carbon tourism activities in the Nipa Palm Forest area by 2025. This will act as a tool to support the sustainable conservation of nipa palm agricultural area.