Kaeng Krachan to be put forward as Natural World Heritage site

Thailand is to put forward a nomination to Unesco's World Heritage Centre for the listing of Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as a Natural World Heritage site, deputy government spokesman Chalitrat Chantarubeksa said on Tuesday.

The nomination, to be submitted to the centre's office in Paris by Friday, was decided at the Cabinet's weekly meeting yesterday.

The Cabinet also endorsed a proposal 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 Prime Minister Plodprasob Surasawadi has been appointed as administration chief and has set up a panel comprising representatives of the ministries of interior, natural resources and environment, culture as well as tourism and sports, to oversee the work.

This forest complex meets the categories required by the Unesco, among them containing the most important and significant natural habitats for insitu conservation of biological diversity, including those containing 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 Phetchaburi River and Pranburi River.