CARE Thailand, known as Raks Thai, has an Environment Program that is based on the community-based development approach and targets the needs of poor and vulnerable communities across Thailand. Raks Thai’s expertise includes biodiversity protection and forest management in border areas, improved sustainable agricultural practices and watershed management in the North, as well as coastal resilience, humanitarian assistance and disaster risk management in the South.

Raks Thai are experts in Climate Vulnerability Capacity Assessment (CVCA) and Community-based Adaptation (CBA) planning. Starting with the Building Coastal Resilience to Reduce Climate Change project in the South of Thailand in 2011, which focused on climate change adaptation and coastal resilience, CARE introduced the CVCA as part of their work with the communities. Through CBA planning, CARE aims to help communities understand their vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change and plan for their sustainable future. In particular, Raks Thai supports local communities to analyze problems and develop their critical thinking about their priorities for development by defining community plans and managing natural resources thereby increasing their resilience.

Raks Thai are part of an extended network of civil society organizations (CSOs) for capacity building and knowledge-sharing. Furthermore, Raks Thai has experience in promoting financial mechanisms for conservation and rehabilitation of biodiversity through community-based social enterprises (CbSEs). Raks Thai has employed action-based research to develop CbSEs for the sustainable management of the forest. This resulted in formulating plans to allocate resources for conservation and rehabilitation of the forest as a natural-resource base.

Finally, Raks Thai supports land-use rights of vulnerable communities through the use of Participatory Geographical Information Systems (PGIS), which enables communities to sustainably manage forest resources for their livelihoods. CARE believes that forest landscape governance must be inclusive, requiring effective non-state actors, such as civil society, indigenous peoples and local community group participation.