Forest put forward as world heritage site

Thailand will put a nomination to Unesco's World Heritage Centre for Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex to be listed as a Natural World Heritage site, deputy government spokesman Chalitrat Chantarubeksa said yesterday. The nomination, to be submitted to Unesco in Paris by Friday, was decided at the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday.

Cabinet also endorsed a move to change the name from Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex or KKFC to Thailand Western Forest Complex, as the site is connected with other national parks, he said.

Deputy Premier Plodprasob Suraswadi was made administration chief and has set up a panel of representatives from the ministries of Interior, Natural Resources and Environment, Culture as well as Tourism and Sports, to oversee the work.

The forest meets categories required by Unesco, such as containing the most important and significant natural habitats for insitu conservation of biological diversity, including ones that contain threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

The park, the largest in Thailand, covers parts of the Phetchaburi's Nong Ya Plong, Kaeng Krachan and Tha Yang and Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district. A jungle in the Tanaosri Ranges is the origin of many rivers, including the Phetchaburi and Pranburi Rivers.