15.3.5 Collaboration for shared land ecosystems
Srinakharinwirot University supports collaboration for shared land ecosystems by co-managing agricultural and rural landscapes with government agencies and local communities. The Faculty of Pharmacy’s community herbal garden in Nakhon Nayok is developed on land allocated through the Agricultural Land Reform Office in partnership with the Land Development Office and local residents, transforming degraded land into an organic medicinal-plant agroecosystem and community learning space where soil restoration, biodiversity and livelihoods are managed jointly. Similarly, Bodhivijjalaya College and the College of Creative Agriculture for Society work with farmer groups and local authorities to operate organic paddy fields, integrated farms and CCAS FARM as shared learning plots, combining food production with ecosystem rehabilitation and farmer training. In Uthai District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, the Faculty of Environmental Culture and Ecotourism collaborates with subdistrict administrations and community enterprises to plan agro- and cultural tourism on existing agricultural land, so that fields function simultaneously as productive farmland, ecological corridors and community-managed tourism landscapes. Across these initiatives, SWU’s role is to bring scientific knowledge, participatory planning and long-term monitoring into spaces where land, biodiversity and livelihoods are managed collectively.
Srinakharinwirot University promotes the sustainable management of land for tourism through an integrated area-based development project in Uthai District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, led by the Faculty of Environmental Culture and Ecotourism. Tourism activities are planned on existing community agricultural land—such as “Khok Nong Na” sufficiency-economy plots and duckweed cultivation areas—rather than through new land conversion, so that productive farmland is maintained while being enhanced as learning sites and community-based agro- and cultural tourism destinations. The project applies principles of sustainable land-use planning and responsible tourism, ensuring that visitor activities align with the ecological carrying capacity of agricultural landscapes and support long-term soil, water and ecosystem health. Local residents retain ownership and act as primary stewards of the land, forming community enterprises to design tourism routes, host visitors and manage benefits. Tourism products and experiences are rooted in local crops, food traditions and cultural heritage, linking tourism development directly with sustainable management of community land, strengthened local livelihoods and the long-term resilience of rural environments. (SWU Reinventing University Report 2024, Page 122-132)
Source 1: สรุปสวนสมุนไร เภสัช ปี2567.pdf