Chiang Mai, December 28, 2025…As air pollution and climate risks intensify across Thailand, tcp SPIRIT, the sustainability platform of TCP Group, is redefining environmental learning by taking it out of classrooms and into nature. Through its youth volunteer camp “Asa A-GUARD,” tcp SPIRITinvites young people to understand clean air and climate resilience by starting at their roots forests, soil, and communities.
Held in Chiang Dao and the Wiang Haeng community forest in Chiang Mai province, Asa A-GUARD offers an immersive, hands-on experience that links ecosystem health with everyday life. Participants learn about community forest management, carbon measurement, and the agricultural drivers behind haze and PM2.5 pollution aligning with TCP Group’s long-term goal of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050.
Opening the camp, Saravoot Yoovidhya, CEO of TCP Group, emphasized that air quality is an issue no one can opt out of. “Air is something we cannot choose,” he noted. “We don’t want future generations to grow up in a world where breathing requires masks and filters.” For him, Asa A-GUARD is not about symbolic volunteerism, but about building understanding that leads to action.
The program is structured around five integrated missions from climate science basics and nature-based solutions to carbon data collection, wildfire prevention, and soil exploration. Volunteers establish forest sample plots, tag trees, and learn how carbon sequestration is calculated, transforming abstract climate concepts into tangible experiences.
Working alongside local communities, they also help manage fire-prone areas, gaining insight into the physical realities of forest protection.
Community forests play a central role in the learning journey. According to Sudarat Rojphongkasem Director of Nature-based Solutions Mae Fah Luang Foundation,forests managed by local communities are frontline solutions to climate change absorbing carbon while sustaining livelihoods.
Carbon credits generated from these forests, she explained, return directly to communities to fund conservation, firebreaks, and local enterprises.
One of the most powerful lessons lies beneath the surface. By comparing soils from different land uses, participants discover that healthy soil rich in organic matter and biodiversity can store significantly more carbon than degraded land. Conservation scientist Petch Manopawitr reminds volunteers that soil is often overlooked, despite its critical role in climate solutions.
Asa A-GUARD ultimately reframes sustainability as a lived experience. It shows that clean air begins with resilient forests, resilient forests depend on living soil, and living soil is sustained by communities who understand its value.
This is Lifestyle Sustainability in action where nature becomes the teacher, and responsibility is shared by all.
