Khun Pimpawadi Phaholyothin, President of WWF Foundation, joined the opening ceremony of the Quality Patrol Standard Control Center (SMART Patrol), chaired by Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. WWF Foundation and conservation organizations such as Seub Nakhasathien Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Society have participated in supporting the budget for the renovation and construction of the Smart Patrol room at the Department of National Parks.
The SMART Patrol Monitoring Center will be a training center and develop the potential of officers to make the patrol system in the conservation forest area systematic, increase the potential for prevention, suppression and area management by applying geographic information technology (GIS) to plan patrols, collect data, analyze and process in a single standard. The aim is for the patrol team to collect data from qualitative patrols, such as collecting traces of natural resource and environmental crimes, logging, hunting, collecting forest products and various ecological factors, and combine them with technology to stop and prevent the destruction of forest resources and wildlife. It also helps the heads of agencies in conservation areas to use it as a database for planning operations, and executives at all levels can use it as a database for policy determination and planning the management of conservation areas effectively.
In addition, the Quality Patrol Standard Control Center will have a role and duty to develop the quality patrol system standards in conservation forest areas, coordinate and monitor and evaluate the performance of officials to be in accordance with the standards, promote and support activities to enhance patrol efficiency, and collect, analyze and report the results of operations. The establishment of the center is a collaboration between the Department of National Parks, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, the Project to Enhance Efficiency and Motivation for Wildlife Conservation in the Western Forest Complex (SCIWC), Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, WWF Foundation, WCS-Thailand Program and Panthera.
