UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION FOR EDUCATION,

SCIENCE AND CULTURE (UNESCO)

GOALS FOR TSUNAMI RECOVERY

GIS mapping of part of the Surin Islands and

UNESCO aims to document and disseminate best prac 

Adang Archipelago.

tices and lessons learnt among these communities, aim 

Collecting household data of Lhao Island to prepare

ing to strengthen local government capacity; promote

personal documents for the development of human

indigenous cultures; and reduce vulnerability to future

security.

disasters and ensure sustainable recovery.

Education for Natural Disaster Preparedness in Asia Pa 

PARTNERS

cific is an initiative that aims to inform education and

Government: Ministry of Education (MOE)

policy formulation through communication and infor 

NGOs: CODI, APPAN (Asia Pacific Performing Arts

mation dissemination, as well as production of locally

Network), CUSRI, Chulalongkorn University

relevant education materials for disaster prevention,

UN agencies: UNDP

recognition and preparedness adaptable to various

stakeholders and sectors.

DONORS

UNESCO is an implementing partner for UNDP in the

LOCATION

 Support to Rehabilitation of Traditional Communities

The  Support to Rehabilitation of Traditional Commu 

in Tsunami Affected Areas in Thailand  project.

nities in Tsunami Affected Areas  project  covers Phang

Nga, Ranong, Phuket and Satun provinces, involving

PROGRAMMES

two sea gypsy groups: the Moken in the Surin Islands

Rehabilitation of Traditional Communities and Municipali 

and Lhao Island; and the Urak Lawoi in Lipe Island,

ties in Tsunami Affected areas in Thailand will promote cul 

Rawai and Sirey.

tural heritage and build capacity of indigenous peo 

ple to actively participate in the post tsunami de 

PROGRAMME PERIOD

velopment of conservation regulation.

July 2005   March 2006

Living along the Andaman sea coast, the sea gypsy

RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

communities (Moken, Moklen and Urak Lawoi) are

By the end of October 2005, the following key achieve 

distinctive groups of people whose lifestyle, languages

ments can be noted:

and cultures differ markedly from the rest of Thai Society.

The Surin Islands have been surveyed and data

Approximately 1,000 sea gypsy households were affected

collected for GIS mapping.

by the tsunami. Various activities will be carried out

A stakeholder Meeting was held at Khuraburi

including:

Hospital on the Moken and the Surin Islands;

Constructing of traditional boats and nature trails

Representatives from Government and NGOs

to transfer sea gypsy knowledge and skills and for

shared ideas about development and conservation

community use.

as well as suitable ways to preserve the Moken

Rebuilding huts exhibiting on traditional culture

culture, compatible with environmental conservation.

of Moken people.

The cultural nature trail has been developed to

Workshops with relevant stakeholders to explore

revive ethno botanical knowledge of the Moken

options and provide recommendations for co 

people.

management in protected areas.

The Moken finished building their traditional

Developing booklets for tourists on indigenous

boats and will use them to take tourists around

people and their natural resources.

the Moken village.

SE

Developing local school curricula materials with

All household data on the Lhao Islands has been

XE

an emphasis on sea gypsy traditional cultures.

collected and keyed into a database.

NNA

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