BURMA'S FORESTRY MINISTER TAKES A MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000644

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, OES
BANGKOK FOR REO - TED OSIUS
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2014
TAGS: SENV PGOV EAGR PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA'S FORESTRY MINISTER TAKES A MEETING

REF: A. BANGKOK 2448


B. BANGKOK 1804

Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (SBU) Summary: In the COM's first meeting with Burma's
Forestry Minister we were able to finally get the GOB's
official line on wildlife trafficking and illegal timbering,
and clarify an outstanding rumor regarding the punishment of
a Ministry official for illegal contact with the Embassy.
Though the Minister did not seem particularly engaged,
conservation NGOs tell us he is pretty good on the important
issues. Perhaps Burma's protected, but neglected, regions
will benefit. End summary.

From the Woodwork


2. (SBU) After waiting nearly four months for a response to
our meeting request, the Minister of Forestry agreed with
less than a day's notice to meet the Chief of Mission (COM)
on May 21st. There was no explanation for the delay or why
the Minister was willing to meet now, in the midst of the
reconvening of the National Constitutional Convention.


3. (SBU) Minister Brigadier General Thein Aung took office in
August 2003. He is a major political player, holding a
position on the Central Executive Committee of the SPDC's
mass-action group, the Union Solidarity and Development
Association. Before his promotion he was a Deputy Energy
Minister. Minister Brig Gen Thein Aung took over a month
after the forced retirement of his predecessor U Aung Phone
-- reportedly sacked for particularly egregious corruption.
U Aung Phone has also been tied in the international press to
the scandal surrounding the Iraqi Oil-for-Food program --
though undoubtedly this had no impact on his removal.

A Man of Few Words


4. (SBU) During the meeting, the COM covered the scope of
environmental issues here. She noted the Forestry Ministry's
cooperation in recent months with the Smithsonian and
California Academy of Sciences for an annual wild elephant
survey, with a consortium led by Total and UNOCAL to set
aside for protection a large swath of land around their
natural gas pipeline in southeastern Burma, and with U.S.
conservation NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). WCS is
the implementing partner in a newly announced 4,800 square
mile tiger preserve in northwest Burma. The COM also queried
the Minister about Burma's problems with illegal and
unsustainable logging and with trafficking of wildlife over
the Chinese border.


5. (SBU) The Minister was quite reticent and did not seem
overly pleased to see us. He accepted the COM's comments
with a nod and answered her questions with pat explanations
of "improved cooperation" within the ministries and with Thai
and Chinese government officials to cut down on the export of
illegal timber and endangered species. He pointed to the
capture by the army of "100 logging trucks" near the Chinese
border as evidence of the GOB's serious efforts.
Nonetheless, reftels and other reports published in recent
months by conservation NGOs and scientists in China's Yunnan
Province point out the continued magnitude of both timber and
wildlife trafficking from Burma to China and Thailand.


6. (SBU) The Minister did explain that Prime Minister Khin
Nyunt (known for his relatively pro-conservation tendencies)
had established a new committee on environmental conservation
under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister U Win Aung. The
committee is now working on reforestation projects in Pegu
Yoma (a heavily timbered region north of Rangoon) and on
income generation and education programs among populations
resident in or alongside protected areas. Both of these
campaigns, the Minister said pointedly, were sorely in need
of international or INGO financial and technical assistance.

Forestry Official Faces the Music


7. (C) The Minister became slightly more animated when the
COM asked for clarification of a February report from the
Democratic Voice of Burma that a Forestry Ministry official
had been sentenced to death for transmitting sensitive
documents to the U.S. Embassy. The Minister verified that
indeed an official, U Sann Min, had been arrested after the
post office intercepted unspecified documents he was mailing
to the Embassy. He said, however, that he had no knowledge
of U Sann Min's sentence. The COM stressed that the Embassy
had no knowledge of this incident and certainly had not been
soliciting classified materials from any Forestry Ministry
officials. The Minister took this on board without comment.

National Convention? What National Convention?


8. (C) Seeking a top political operator's view of the newly
reconvened National Convention, the COM asked about the
Convention's recent discussions on the future of the
country's conservation, forestry, and ecotourism policies.
The transcript of these deliberations had taken up dozens of
column-inches in the May 20th New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
The Minister seemed completely puzzled by this question and
moved on to something else.

Comment: Prospects are Positive


9. (C) Despite a perfunctory performance in the meeting, the
Minister's attitude toward conservation has received
relatively high marks by conservation NGOs in Rangoon.
Perhaps this is just in comparison to his notoriously corrupt
predecessor, who focused all his attention on the income
generating side of the Ministry (timbering) at the expense of
conservation projects. Though these projects, and Burma's
protected areas, continue to suffer from a lack of human and
financial resources, perhaps with a more conservation-focused
Minister and Prime Minister in place, and with new sources of
private funding coming online (for instance from Total and
WCS),the future for Burma's protected areas may be a bit
brighter. End comment.
Martinez