WILDLIFE PROTECTION IN BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000115

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO
PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2018
TAGS: SENV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: WILDLIFE PROTECTION IN BURMA

REF: A. A: 07 RANGOON 1118

B. B: RANGOON 35

RANGOON 00000115 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Poloff Chelsia Wheeler for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


1. (C) Summary. Through its small grants program, Embassy
Rangoon funds a Biodiversity and Nature Conservation
Association (BANCA) mobile education project in the buffer
zone surrounding Shwesetaw Wildlife Sanctuary in Magwe
Division. The wildlife sanctuary is home to many endangered
species that have come under threat because of poaching and
habitat destruction. Each year, pilgrims from throughout
Burma come to a two-month pagoda festival in the sanctuary,
where they are able to see BANCA's biodiversity conservation
panels. By the end of this project, BANCA expects to educate
more than 180,0000 Burmese on the need for environmental
protection and species preservation. End Summary.

Life At Shwesetaw Wildlife Sanctuary
--------------


2. (C) From February 6 to 8, Poloff and P/E LES traveled to
Shwesetaw Wildlife Sanctuary to monitor the progress of
BANCA's embassy grant. Shwesetaw Wildlife Sanctuary,
established under British rule in 1941, covers several
hundred square miles of dry zone forest in Magwe Division.
The sanctuary is home to many highly endangered species,
including the golden deer and the Burmese star tortoise, a
popular pet in Japan because of the unique star pattern on
its shell. Poachers capture the tortoises in the area and
sell them in Japan on the black market for approximately $200
apiece, said Thin Thin Yu, a ranger in the sanctuary who
cares for several tortoises that live at the headquarters.
They cannot release any tortoises, she said, because of the
dangers of poaching.


3. (SBU) Star tortoises are not the only endangered tortoise
species in the area. Poachers capture other species and ship
them in large numbers to China, where they are used for food
and medicine. According to Burmese belief, one can also gain
significant merit from releasing previously captured
tortoises. Uninformed people often release land tortoises in
water and inadvertently kill them.


4. (C) Habitat destruction threatens the tortoises, the
golden deer and other species living in the sanctuary. While
there is a buffer zone surrounding the sanctuary where people
can obtain forest products for building, U Uga, chairman of
BANCA, lamented that human, financial, and institutional
constraints prevent effective management of the area. The
government-run park employs only 55 permanent staff who are
improperly trained for the job. Severe poverty in the area,
combined with the poor management of the park itself, lead to
extensive destruction of the core forest. Soe Win, Assistant
Director of the Forestry Department's Division on Nature and
Wildlife Conservation and warden of the park, came across
soldiers illegally logging within the sanctuary just prior to
his meeting with us to discuss the park.


5. (C) Despite the current poor circumstances in the
sanctuary, the situation is improving and both rangers and
Soe Win have ideas on how to make further improvements. A
decade ago, people could illegally buy golden deer at the
annual pagoda festival in Shwesetaw. Now, because of better
enforcement practices, meat is no longer for sale. Two
rangers at the park said that they could protect the
sanctuary by training local villagers to grow perennial crops
such as beans, peas, and cotton for sale to domestic markets.
The income generated would prevent villagers from cutting
the forest for food and shelter supplies.

BANCA Raises Awareness to Protect the Forest
--------------


6. (C) To instill long-term awareness of the delicate
environment in Shwesetaw, BANCA, with Embassy Rangoon
funding, developed educational panels targeted at middle and
high school students on biodiversity conservation (Ref A).

RANGOON 00000115 002.2 OF 002


The project was reaching its completion during our visit and
had toured 42 schools and reached over 35,000 students. A
close contact of U Uga's in the Forestry Department
facilitated getting support to present the panels in local
schools from village peace and development councils (PDCs).
During the presentations, which last approximately 40 minutes
per group of 40 to 50 students, Aung Myint Oo and Khin Maung
Zaw, BANCA's mobile educators, passed out biodiversity
conservation textbooks to the students and the teachers.


7. (C) U Uga, who had visited one of the schools the day
before, noted that most of the students were very interested
in the topic and even returned after school to ask further
questions. If ten of the 35,000 students go into
biodiversity conservation, he would consider his work a
success. According to Khin Maung Zaw, the topic is important
to these students because they grow up in the forests and
have a close connection to their environment. U Uga also
reported that one teacher from the previous day offered to
donate her own personal funds to sponsor an essay contest on
the topic of biodiversity conservation.


8. (C) In order to improve the project and expand on its
success, Aung Myint Oo suggested that BANCA produce a
narrated VCD that includes the information given in the
sessions. Several students and teachers throughout the
project period requested this tool, arguing that VCDs could
be shown in village movie houses to educate adults as well as
students.

Shwesetaw Pagoda Festival
--------------


9. (C) The Shwesetaw Pagoda Festival, held annually in the
sanctuary from February to April, celebrates the Buddha's
footprint rumored to exist at the pagoda. Approximately
300,000 pilgrims from all over Burma visit the festival each
year. BANCA has operated a booth at the festival for the
past 21 years, where members work to raise environmental
awareness among pilgrims. This year BANCA will display the
embassy-funded biodiversity conservation panels from the
mobile education project. U Uga estimated that at least
150,000 people will see the panels during the course of the
festival.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Increasing poverty in the area around the Shwesetaw
Wildlife Sanctuary threaten not only endangered species in
the area but also the livelihoods of future generations of
people living there. The regime does nothing to alleviate
the situation. It also prohibits all foreign contact, so our
grant gave us access to poor Burmese in a place we otherwise
have no access. Through its embassy-funded project, however,
BANCA conducts invaluable work, in promoting awareness among
students on how to conserve their environment for years to
come.
VILLAROSA