I. First progress report (September 3, 2008)
Activities undertaken:
1. Building and promoting capacity of local administrative organization on alternative energy technology through training and study tours
2. Formulating plan through a participatory process
3. Demonstrating activities on biogas, water-pumping bicycle, biomass, and biodiesel.
4. Demonstrating approach on soil erosion reduction

Results of activities:
1. Increased awareness and capacity of members of Tambol Administrative Organizations witnessed through collective estimating budget to support project activities for three years
2. Emergence of the followings:
- a group for producing organic compost
- an implementation plan for developing mechanism to slow down rate of consumption of natural resources within one year and three years
- 41 high-efficiency charcoal producing kiln fit for utilization of twigs and branches
-100 humid retaining weirs reducing land erosion

Project communication:
The project was made more visible in village meetings, and district meetings

Experience and lessons learnt:
The project referred to varying weather conditions and traditional events as factors to slow down planned activities during this period. Besides, some project members were desirous to have additional activities on renewable energy which exceeded project budget. The first issue was solved by adjustment of timeline , the second by solicitation of additional financial support from the TAO.

II.Second progress report (January 30, 2009)
Activities undertaken:

1. Building and promoting capacity of local administrative organization on alternative energy technology through hands-on training (biogas pits, high-efficiency stove, manual energy and biomass)
2. Building biogas pits for one community school and 30 project members then putting into use
3. Piloting and keeping record the use of high-efficiency stoves for 350 project members

Results of activities:
1. Increased capacity of network members of witnessed through ability to put into demonstration and real use
2. The biogas in school completed, supplying cooking gas for 110 students with promising results, the remaining 30 pits for community members being under construction
3. Use of high-efficiency stoves revealing promising result on fire-woods saving, about 30 % per household

Project communication:
1.The project had produced 1,000 leaflets as a knowledge product giving data & information on biogas from animal manure, high-efficiency charcoal production kiln, high-efficiency stoves and wood vinegar , in addition to project details.The leaflets were distributed throughout communities in the Mae Mon Mae Soi Basin.
2. The project was made more visible through village meeting and joint meetings of local administrative organizations, and other events such as national Children?s Day and sport day of community schools.

Experience and lessons learnt:
1. The project related that some delay was attributed to unpredictable rain and subsequent harvesting activities during the reporting period. Besides, screening most committed members for demonstration activities took longer time than anticipated , jus to ensure the right persons for the activities.
2. Some project members requested more supporting activities which had not been budgeted for, such as making compost.

The two issues were being addressed through adjustment of plan and request co-financing from Jae Sorn Tambol Administrative Organization

Project expense:
The project report the accumulated expense of THB: 544,130.59 out of the sum of the first & second disbursements of THB: 579,232.07.

III.Monitoring visit by NC and one NSC (April 24, 2009)
Findings and observation:
The project location is situated in the vicinity of Jae Sorn National Park where target population from 14 villages in Tambol Huamuang and Tambol Jaesorn of Maungparn District earned their living mostly from agricultural practice (seasonal crops and husbandry), and the provisions of forest and fresh water ecosystems thereby. Majority of the population dwelled in cultivated low land area, which buffered the national park , with a few villages in an overlapping area with the park. Several villages, except a few, were grid-connected and used to conventional energy in daily livelihood activities. Three traditional groups, northern Thai, Lawa and Karen, constituted target population.

At a premises belonging to the Women?s Cotton Weaving and Natural Dying Group in Baan (village) Jaesorn Nua, one of the target communities, the visiting team was shown and briefed about the production of charcoal through a replicated appropriate technology , implying increased capacity of the group. This consisted the use of a 200-litre metal drum on the ground filled with branches and twigs ready to be burned into charcoal. After about one year, according to group members, this new method of charcoal production required much less time than the old method of burning in ground pits. More over, the new method made an optimum use of biomass from branches and twigs thus reduced felling of big trees and contributing to sustainable use of fire-woods. So far, group members expressed their satisfaction with the technology and implied initial conventional energy saving.

Other Increased community capacities were witnessed during the visits to three newly completed central biogas facilities , each with capacity of 12-16 cu.m. The first was at Baan (village) Maetormklarng in an overlapping zone with the Jaesorn National Park. The village was a home to 29 families of a traditional group, Karen, who had long settled in the area. Fire-woods was the main source of energy in cooking & heating , solar home system provided by the Thai government lighting and powering radio & TV. The second was at Baan Kharm in lowland cultivated area buffering the national park, known as a home to over 100 families of another traditional group, Lawa. The third facility was at a premises of the grantee which also served as a community coordinating centre, the seed centre of the project and the learning centre for alternative energy. The three facilities were complete in construction with gas-carrying pipe laid down from them to participating families. Capacity of each facility was estimated to serve at least five families within one kilometers. Another related activity witnessed was the use of high-efficiency stove which target communities had been using for a year and confirmed a fire-wood saving between 30-40 %. This and other types of conservation figures would be recorded and shared for discussion as the project fared to its completion.

Conversing with project leaders, the visiting team was led to believe in two forthcoming advocacy and policy dialogues. The first involved a promotion of ? alternative energy villages? in the national park. Under this promotion, the management unit of Jaesorn National Park , who had been cooperating closely with the project, would exclude participating villages out of the overlapping zone, and support a trial of a ?sustainable traditional living inside a protected area? model. The second was the emergence of the draft version of a municipality act to support alternative energy promotion and reduce dependence upon forest resources , the next step of which was a referendum from communities. The act was stipulated as one of the results of the project.

Several target villages were also under a back GEF SGP project THA-04-09 titling ?Capacity Building of Women and Youths to Rehabilitate Land Degradation? which saw its completion since early 2006. Many sustained activities and results were witnessed during the visit, e. g. conservation activities of youth group, results of forest conservation in watershed area, recovering plot , etc.

Note: Through an arrangement of the NSC, Dr. Pragtong, the management of Jaesorn National Park in
kindly supported one-night lodging for the visiting team , equivalent to THB: 2,000.

IV.Interim report (September 1, 2009)
Activities undertaken:
1. Continuing building biogas pits for one community school and 30 project members then putting into use
2. Establishing one native seed bank and one green market
3. Installing equipment for production of bio-diesel

Results of activities:

1. The generated biogas being use in cooking lunch for 310 students in two schools ( Baan Kluai School and Muangparn Phatthanawit School), and for household cooking for 29 families with avoided fire-woods saving of approximately one kilogramme per day per family
2. The seed bank becoming a learning centre with 50 native seeds in store for 80 community members in the basin
3. Established fund for Jetropha oil production with 50 members as pioneers
4. Additional financial support being provided for Jetropha Oil production and relevant capacity building activities

Project communication:

The project was made more visible through village meetings, project publication, signboards and exhibition and traditional event of Tambol Huamung.

Experience and lessons learnt:
1. The project related that some delay was attributed to traditional events happening during Songkran Festival.
2. After Songkran (Water) Festival, planting season almost immediately followed resulting in forced modification of project timeline.
3. Implementing the green market was still a new activity for community members resulting in rather low participation from network committee members. Besides, during the period, agricultural product was not plentiful.

All three issues were addressed satisfactorily by modification of plan, blending activities with tradition events and focusing on building capacity and awareness.

V. Mid-course evaluation workshop (September 1-2, 2009)
Together with eight other projects of the same grant cycle ( Project number:THA-SGP-OP4-RAF-07-01 to THA-SGP-OP4-RAF-07-06 and THA-SGP-OP4-CORE-07-01 to THA-SGP-OP4-CORE-07-04), the project attended the mid-course evaluation workshop.

Workshop-at-a-glance:
The meeting room of Par Darng Camp, in Petburi Province?s Kaengkrajarn District, the venue of the workshop, welcomed 24 representatives from 9 SGP projects from 9 provinces across the country and other five members of GEF SGP country team comprising NSC members , National Coordinator and programme assistants participating in the event. Literally, these 9 projects were dubbed among SGP
Thailand as GEF SGP Class 9 with project numbers enumerated above. One project missed this sharing opportunity, due to its internal managerial problem.

The workshop was opened with welcoming address by an NSC member stating workshop objectives and encouraging participants to openly share results of project activities and lessons learnt, including emerging problems/issues encountered during implementation.

With project posters on the walls and project outputs on the tables, the NC proceeded with the posters & outputs session. Each project was given ten minutes to brief its story with questions from the audiences. A few projects spent adequate time elaborating their stories when being directed with questions.

With an NSC member as the chairperson and one volunteering minute taker from the projects, the following session saw presentation , both by power point and hanging posters/photos , from 8 projects repeating their background, undertaken activities, immediate results, lessons learnt , problems and issues. With 15 minutes allowed for each, the session went smoothly with average one topic/presentation for sharing/discussion. Additional discussion ,especially during dinner. That was the first day.

The second day began with summarization of activities of the previous day and reconfirmation of the agenda, followed by a presentation of the one remaining project. The floor then was given to the NC for showing ,through video, activities of each project he recorded during project site visits. The video had proven to be a very good mechanism to make activities of each project more visible and better understood by participants. The NC also reminded projects about compiling completion reports , then shared strategy of Operational Phase 4 and prospects of Thailand GEF SGP.

The final session of the workshop included open discussion to keep this infantile natural environment network active. It was agreed that each project would keep on contacting one another and sharing experience. Some issues of common interest included compilation of relevant knowledge for future activities, setting up regional mechanism to facilitate networking process, and publication pocket book telling stories of each and every project. Two persons from two projects volunteered to be the class or network coordinator for publishing the pocket book and a focal point to produce the network website.

VI. Completion Report (January 4, 2010):
Number of Beneficiaries/ Participating personnel:
Women: 1,400
Men: 1,300
Children: 800

Number of persons trained/ attending seminars, joining study tours:
Women: 268
Men: 294
Children: 39

Expense:
Amount received from SGP (3 disbursements): THB: 882,490.39
Total amount spent out of SGP budget: THB: 1,005,041.00
Balance: THB: (- 122,550.61)

Activities carried out:
1. Building and promoting capacity of local administrative organization on alternative energy technology through training and study tours
2. Formulating plan through a participatory process
3. Demonstrating activities on biogas ( 29 families and one 110-student school), water-pumping bicycle (4 families), biomass (350 families) , and biodiesel ( 100 families)
4. Demonstrating approach on soil erosion reduction

Results and Indicators:
1. Increased technical and institutional capacity of over 100 members of two TAOs and of other groups witnessed through:
? collective formulation of annual budget covering 3- year period for implementation of renewable energy and sustainable agriculture projects in project location ( Baht: 150,000 being anticipated from the enactment)
? target groups being indentified for demonstration
? regulations of the network being formulated to ensure effectiveness
? abilities to put what being learnt into demonstration and practical use
2. Reduction of expense on fossil fuel consumption through introduction of bio-diesel by THB: 1,200 /year/family ( current price of bio-diesel = THB: 22/litre, conventional diesel =THB: 30/litre)
3. Reduction of expense on fossil fuel (canned gas) consumption through introduction of biogas by THB: 600/month for two schools with 290 students ( about 50 kg of canned gas/month)
4. Reduction of woods consumption in production of charcoal by at least 30 % among 40 families and fire-woods about one kg/day/family amongst 350 families.
5. Emergence of one rotating fund of initial amount THB: 60,000 for management of bio-diesel system
6. Native plants of 50 species being collected for propagation
7. 100 humid retaining weirs being constructed and in effect with cooperation from Khun Soi Watershed Management Unit
8. Drafted version of a municipality act on promotion of renewable energy

Project Communication:
1. The project produced 1,000 posters to disseminate activities and obtained results.
2. The project was made more visible through meetings within Lampang Province and community radio.

Plans and Activities for Sustainability:
1.The project will continue with formulation of plan for promotion of renewable energy for new target population in the two districts of Lampang Province. New type of renewable energy ( water for electricity ) would be a new focus while other type of biomass would be planted for biodiesel.
2. The project will continue with the effort in local enactment for mitigating global warming through development of renewable energy.

Experience , Lessons Learnt , Problems and Issues:
1. There are several native species with potential energy quality deserving more study.
2. Technical study tours and knowledge sharing for communities have proven to be very useful and effective , as they made communities gaining self-confidence in advancing their own development plan.