Microcredit, Poverty and the Environment
Bibliography B0456
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| Author(s) | Hooper, M. Parekh, M. |
| Date | 2005 |
| Reference type | Journal Article |
| Source name | LEISA Magazine |
| Journal | Vol 21 No 2 |
| Pages | pp. 21 |
| Publisher | LEISA, Leusden |
Summary
For many years, crippling debts forced villagers living on the borders of Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park to resort to poaching, illegal logging and land encroachment. Money-lenders would charge very high interest rates and take farmers’ land and property if they could not pay back their loans. The local CBIRD centre realized that something had to be done; it helped the people of Sub Tai village establish an innovative credit cooperative, the Sub Tai Environmental Protection Society (EPS), which provides loans for ecologically beneficial and income generating activities if they do not poach or log illegally. Since the initiation of the EPS, Sub Tai community has escaped from debt, doubled its income as a group, and reduced illegal deforestation by 75%. The beneficiaries are now able to turn to mainstream private credit providers as their credit worthiness has improved. This experience shows how creative microfinance can support both livelihoods and biodiversity.
Themes
Market-based Approaches
Geographic coverage
Thailand
Available from
http://www.leisa.info/FritZ/source//getblob.php?o_id=74512&a_id=211&a_seq=0
Related records above this one:
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Organisation O0146)