A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Engineering

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1990

Although the National Parks Division of the Thai Royal Forest Department have created over 63 national parks since 1962, few national parks have a management plan t hat lead park manager to achieve park objectives, mainly because parks l ac k baseline dat a . However remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) application is appropriate for data collection a nd park management . Phu Rua Nation a l Park located in Loei Province in northeast of Thailand was selected as a case study. Remote sensing , including La nd sat TM and aerial photograph, was employed to collect up-to-date data of land- u se/land-cover, streams, accessibility. In addition, image interpretation associated with field observation was app lied to carry out soil mapping and wildlife habitatmapping . GIS technique of ARC/INFO package was used to evaluate the location of par k management zones. Five zones, including a n Intensive Use Zone, an Outdoor Recreation Zone, a Primitive Zone, a Strict Nature Reserve Zone, and a Recovery Zone, based on the Thai Royal Forest Department 's requirement are presented in this study. A park zoning mode l was determined u sing the Linear Combination Method of multiple criteria of eight bio- physical factors . Each factor was ranked a nd weighted based on its suit ability for each zone . The preliminary management zones map received from park zoning mod e l a nd management priority as well as existing facilities and recreation sites was not suitable to be implemented in real situation . So this map was simplified again according to experts, park official suggestions, and field check in order t o get the the final management zones map. The recommendation s of management program, including protection, restoration of vegetation, interpretation/education program, integrated park conservation with socio-economic development of rural community , a nd administration as well as research and monitoring, are also discussed in this research.