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

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007

The objectives of research were to explore two key of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) species to aim at promoting cultivation in the research areas. . First, the research has investigated the commonly harvested NTFP species with the participatory of local peoples. The result shown that twenty species was commonly harvested in which had 6 rattan species, five species for food and fruits, eight species for medicinal plants, one species for leaves. Scoring method was also used to select the key species for cultivation. Two key species, Calamus arnrarus and Rhapis laosensis, were selected as high priority for cultivation. Second, natural distribution and availability of two key selected species was surveyed in 20 ha plot of natural allocated forest. The co-ordinates of each clump were recorded by GPS machine. The Arc-view software was used to present the all location of clumps in the map. The result shown that there were 1,321 natural clumps of CC armarus species with 4,131 canes (in which have 270 canes have over 5 m length), and 860 natural clumps of R. laosensis species with 2,291 individuals (in which have 293 fruiting individual). The distribution of clumps was not evenly in surveyed plot. Third, the seed germination of two key selected species was tested in the nursery with two pre-treatment method, soak and control. The soaked method consisted of three different level 45°C, 70°C, and cold water for 24 hours. The field experiments was used partially random design, there was two blocks designed for 40 replicates. Each replicate contained 50 seeds. The environment factors were used under the same condition such as temperature, humidity, soil, and sunlight. The analysis was used SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science), excel database. The result disclosed that the rate of seed germination was significant differences for each species and for each treatment method. The seeds of C. armarus species began to germinate 31 days after sowing. The highest percentage of seed gen-nination was 89.2% in the treatment of the hot water 45°C. The seeds of R. laosensis species began to germinate 42 days after sowing. The percentage of seed germination was highest in the treatment of the hot water 70°C with 62.8%. Finally, based on the participatory of local peoples, three criteria were developed such as access, ownership, and environment in the local meeting to select the suitable areas of allocated forests for cultivation. Total 141.3 ha of allocated forests were selected to cultivate two key selected species