Natural Resources Protection & Restoration

The Company aims to develop green areas within the two AMATA industrial estates to be a livable city with a good environment that promotes a better quality of life for workers in the industrial estates. The Company has set the target to have green areas at least 10 percent of the total developed area. The Company has prepared a master plan and determined green area development within AMATA industrial estates annually to continuously restore green areas in AMATA industrial estates. It defines types of plants based on forest types in Chonburi and Rayong provinces, according to the Royal Forest Department. Most terrestrial forest in Chonburi and Rayong is mixed-deciduous forest and dry evergreen forest. 

In collaboration with factory operators in the AMATA Industrial Estates, the Company has developed projects to revitalize abandoned public areas to community forests by planting local perennial plants in the industrial estates’ degraded forest areas. For example, during the period of 4 years between 2019 and 2022, in the “Forest for Life” project, the Company collaborated with Tokai Rika (Thailand) Co., Ltd. to reforest degraded forest areas, which is a public area of 12 rai in AMATA City Rayong Industrial Estate. In 2022, 5,800 trees were planted on 3 rai of land, and during the project period, a total of 17,400 trees were planted on 9 rai of land. 

In 2022, AMATA City Chonburi Industrial Estate held a “Fish and Crab Release” event at the Mangrove Forest Conservation Learning Center in Khlong Tamru subdistrict, Chonburi province, releasing over 19,000 crabs and fish to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother’s 90th birthday. 

The area of AMATA City Rayong Industrial Estate is in the middle of a watershed, the Phu Sai Stream, which flows from the Khao Mai Kaeo watershed and runs through the industrial estate before reaching the Dok Krai Reservoir, which is a large reservoir with a capacity of over 79 million cubic meters and an area of more than 1,300 rai (2.08 square kilometers) in Rayong province. Although Dok Krai Reservoir is located outside the radius of 5 kilometers from AMATA City Rayong Industrial Estate, it is an area that is important in terms of freshwater ecosystems and an important economic source for the community because it is a nursery for aquatic animals and a local fishing area for more than 500 households in Nikhom Phatthana district. This poses a threat to aquatic species, a significant part of the community’s traditional means of subsistence, and is prompting surrounding populations to be concerned about potential effects on water quality.  

As a result, the Company collaborates with the Rayong Provincial Fisheries and Freshwater Fisheries Resource Management Group at Dok Krai Reservoir, a community committee that oversees and controls reservoir utilization, and various alliance groups, such as local authorities and factory operators in AMATA City Rayong Industrial Estate, to develop the “Joint Development toward Sustainable Watershed” project in order to preserve and restore water sources, including local aquatic animal species that provide a reliable source of income and food for the community and can also be used as an effective indicator of water quality.  

In 2022, the Company released 325,000 aquatic animals, or 10 species, which are species found in the reservoir by fisheries in Rayong province such as the Silver Barb (Barbonymus gonionotus), Spotted Knife Fish (Chitala ornata), Seven-Stripped Carp (Probarbus jullieni), Rohu (Labeo rohita), Iridescent shark (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), Small Scale Mud Carp (Cirrhinus microlepis), etc.; the total worth is 125,000 baht. Furthermore, the Company collaborated with the Rayong Provincial Fisheries Office to release 200,000 Giant Freshwater Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii). Since the project has been implemented, the Company has released over 1,500,000 aquatic animals. Furthermore, there was an activity in 2022 to make Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) out of rope to serve as a shelter and refuge for the released aquatic species and increase their chances of survival. FADs also increase biodiversity, both in terms of species and the number of living creatures living around them. 

In addition to preserving local species and increasing the number of aquatic animals in Dok Krai Reservoir, the activities increased community confidence in the quality of water flowing through AMATA City Rayong Industrial Estate, which the Company has well managed, controlled, and monitored. In the future, the Company plans to survey the diversity of aquatic animals in the Dok Krai Reservoir area in collaboration with Rayong Province Fisheries and the Dok Krai Reservoir Freshwater Fisheries Resource Management Group, to be used as basic information for biodiversity conservation and future water quality indicators.