JMGT_V6_N2_RP1 Dereje Teklemariam Gebremeskel Girma Tegene Demessie Journal on Management 2230 – 715X 6 2 11 22 Ban Pang Eka, Forest livelihood, Forest Protection, Forest Use Conflict, Karen, Northern Thailand Literatures indicate that the Thai Government's policy to conserve forest resource areas resulted in conflict between local population and local governing bodies though the causes and consequences of the conflicts over villagers' livelihood remain under-described. Thus, this study was initiated to determine the underlying causes of the conflict and its impact local villagers' livelihood. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from different sources. Descriptive statistics supplemented with GIS is used in analyzing the facts collected. The findings show that the underlying causes of the conflict have been found to be the different perceptions people (officials and villagers) have towards forest and the way it should be used. This resulted in conflicting national forest protection policy which considers forests to be free from human interference resulting in establishment of conservation areas in place where settlement areas, such as Ban Pang Eka village which is already established for decades. The establishment of such conservation forest areas posed a shock on villagers' livelihood strategies. Villagers are restricted to practice their agricultural activities which increased the food insecurity level of villagers, strong restriction on tree lodging which created fuel stress among local villagers, restricted access to grazing land and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and over-all change in peoples sources of income and their social capital. Although it is hardly possible to correlate the forest resource use conflict with the degradation of the forest, physical site observation depicted that the forest in the area has been degraded and the conflict over the use of the forest most probably has its own contribution to the degradation. Forest degradation has its own multiplier effect on local villagers who have been dependent for their livelihood for decades. Furthermore, the attempt used to manage the conflict by establishing a community forest which was proposed by villagers lacked institutional and administrative enforcement and hence the conflict was left suspended, without long-lasting solution. Thus, ensuring villagers' participation and incorporating the views of forest dependent communities should be part of the tactics applied for bringing solutions contributing towards sustainable forest management by which both forest and local communities thrive. September - November 2011 Copyright © 2011 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=1715