Nation Thailand
Nan floods refocus debate over forests and watershed management
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Flooding in Nan province has fuelled widespread online debate over deforestation and bare mountains, including whether forest loss is a major reason the province faces repeated floods.
Key facts
- This was down 18,044.39 hectares, or 0.11%, from 2024.
- Many Nan residents, however, argue that deforestation alone cannot explain the flooding.
- Of this, about 736,000 hectares retain forest cover, which the office put at around 61% of the provincial area.
- Legally designated forest areas, comprising national reserved forests and protected forests, total about 968,000 hectares, which it put at 79.81%.
- The Royal Initiative Discovery Foundation and Nan provincial authorities reported that Nan has about 128,000 hectares of bare mountains, equivalent to approximately 11% of the province.
- It accounts for about 40% of the total water flowing through the Chao Phraya confluence in Nakhon Sawan and contributes about 57% of the sediment entering the river system.
Summary
Many Nan residents, however, argue that deforestation alone cannot explain the flooding.
Other contributing factors include terrain, heavy rain over a short period, land-use change, drainage systems, river conditions and climate change.