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The Coastal Conservation Area and Fish Home Project aims to promote, preserve and increase the abundance of various marine life in the 17 provinces along the Gulf of Thailand, for local economic strengths. It was developed upon the conservation and fish nursery areas under the Crab Hatchery Learning Centers Project which had been implemented since 2013. In 2021, PTTEP helped fishery networks near Aquatic Animal Hatchery Learning Centers install 14 fish home made from locally-sourced materials, as the habitat and refuge of coastal marine life. The coastal conservation barrier was built, covering 7.3 square km. Crab catch reportedly increased by 26.6%, raising the fishery communities' income by 18.4% compared to the year before the project implementation. PTTEP has established 5 Aquatic Animal Hatchery Learning Centers in 3 provinces – Songkhla, Pattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat – and six more are under the development stage in 6 provinces – Surat Thani, Chumphon, Prachuab Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Samut Songkhram and Rayong. Once they are completed, there will be 11 learning centers in 9 provinces along the Gulf of Thailand. The learning centers' conservation networks now attract more than 2,443 members. As fishermen can catch more fish, the community is aware of sustainable fishing; and the importance of fish nursery, conservation areas, and crab hatchery. Foreseeing concrete results, fishermen have agreed to conservative fishing rules and collaborated in the establishment of conservation areas and fish nursery. The project also welcomed more than 7,000 visitors per year, giving a boost to the local economy. PTTEP has carried out analysis on Social Return on Investment (SROI) of this project by measuring the social impact of the program with the financial quantification calculation (monetization). This method is intended to measure the value of the financial impact of the program that compares to the value of the impact to the cost of the program that has been invested into. It appears that the value of the SROI ratio is 3.30 : 1 |
