orests mean life. They provide food, shelter and even medicine. All living things, not just humans, benefit. In Thailand, we face substantial deforestation. Seventy per cent of the country used to be covered with forests: by the 1960s, this was down to 50 per cent, and by the 1990s they had declined to just 15 per cent, severely depleting their biodiversity and biomass, and gravely damaging the working of their ecosystems.

The Thailand Youth Environment Network (ThaiYEN) believes that working with village farmers is the most effective way for young people to combat deforestation. Farming practices in Thailand are often not very sustainable. As farmers grow the same crops every year, the soil is drained of its nutrients and loses its fertility - and they then clear forests to try to get new productive land.

One of ThaiYEN's projects works with villagers to develop appropriate and environmentally sustainable farming. We promote the idea that getting things from the forest is not enough: we also have to give back to the forest. So we should give back the nutrition we have taken from the soil by growing different crops planted in seasonal rotation, keeping existing fields productive for many years and avoiding the need to sacrifice forests. ThaiYEN also promotes sustainable consumption - as articulated by our king, HRH Bhumibol Adulyadej - diversifying land use by devoting some to grazing animals, some to crops and some to family gardens.

My experience in ThaiYEN has taught me the value of being connected to networks of young people. I have met many young environmentalists from South Asia and around the world through organizations like Tunza and events like the Global Youth Retreat. As a Tunza Youth Advisor I am involved in peer-to-peer education programmes and believe that they are invaluable because young people are stubborn: they do not like to be told how to think, but are convinced by getting involved in practical action.

Worawit Netrachad/UNEP/Topham