ABSTRACT
Wildlife experts and professional ecologists should conduct field surveys to determine the status, distributions, and habitats of species that may be affected. These experts should prepare a written report evaluating the impacts of the development project, suggesting modifications that would reduce undesirable effects, and recommending natural-resource-management initiatives in the vicinity of the project that would compensate for unavoidable losses of natural resources within the project area. A national inventory of remaining wetlands is urgently needed, and existing remnants should be protected as wildlife refuges. The only sizable wetland known to remain is marshland and Melaleuca-Alstonia swamp around Songkhla Lake and Thale Noi in southern Thailand. Even this site is affected by government housing projects, widespread illegal residences intended to establish personal ownership of government land, a proposed road, and deforestation for charcoal and building materials.
