PRESERVING THE CHATTHIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000283

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SENV ECON
SUBJECT: PRESERVING THE CHATTHIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

REF: RANGOON 115

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


1. (C) Summary. The Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary, established
to preserve some of the last remaining habitat of the Eld's
or golden deer, has come under threat in recent years due to
lack of sufficient fuel wood and building materials in the
surrounding villages. The New Generation Library Association
(NGLA) used an Embassy small grant to solve this problem.
Through creation of community forests, distribution of
fuel-efficient stoves, and extensive community awareness
programs, NGLA has addressed both the supply and demand sides
of the fuel shortage problem, thus working to preserve the
habitat of the golden deer. The group recently received a
second grant to continue similar activities in other villages
that surround the sanctuary. End Summary.

Dangers of Poor Forestry for the Golden Deer
--------------


2. (SBU) In 1983, the Food and Agricultural Organization
designated the Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) as an area
key for the preservation of the endangered golden deer. In
an April 1 to 3 trip to the sanctuary, located in Sagaing
Division in the northernmost part of Burma's dry zone, Poloff
learned that while the golden deer once roamed throughout
Southeast Asia, they now only live in small portions of the
dry forest of Central Burma. These habitats include the
Shwesetaw Wildlife Sanctuary (reftel) and the CWS. During
his tenure as CWS park warden, U Myint Aung conducted
extensive surveys of the habitat of the golden deer. His
studies revealed that although the deer lived in 26 townships
in Central Burma in 1994, by 2003 their habitat had shrunk to
only 16 townships. He estimated that there were probably
only 2,200 golden deer alive in the world in 2008.

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Golden Deer Habitat (Townships) Year
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26 1994
23 1998
16 2003
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Source: CWS Study


3. (SBU) U Myint Aung explained that the golden deer
primarily face two problems: poaching and habitat
destruction. Poaching occurs because the deer are a good
source of meat in an area where people consider their cattle
too valuable to eat; cattle are mostly used for labor, not
food. There is also a market for golden deer products in
China, where people buy antlers and bones to use in
traditional medicines.


4. (SBU) By far the larger threat to the survival of the
golden deer, observed U Myint Aung, is habitat destruction.
In other studies that he conducted, deforestation occurred in
the area at a rate of 4.8 percent annually from 1989 to 1992,
and reduced to 1.9 percent annually from 2001 to 2005 only
because there was very little forest left to destroy. He
said that a significant contributor to forest and
agricultural land destruction now was the construction of
hydropower projects in Central Burma. We observed a dam
under construction, extending several miles. When it is
complete, it will destroy hundreds of acres of farmland,
pastures, and forests, U Myint Aung said.

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Annual Deforestation Years
--------------
4.8 percent 1989 to 1992
5.6 percent 1992 to 2001
1.86 percent 2001 to 2005
--------------
Source: CWS Study


5. (SBU) Extensive deforestation has driven people to search

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for fuel wood within the wildlife sanctuary, said U Myint
Aung. In a 2004 survey, 94 percent of villagers living
around the CWS admitted that they went to the sanctuary to
gather fuel wood on a regular basis, and 60 percent of the
respondents said that they went there at least once a month.
Others went into the sanctuary regularly to collect building
materials, harvest mushrooms and other food products, and to
allow their livestock to graze.

NGLA Addresses Supply and Demand Sides of the Problem
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Using funds from an Embassy small grant in three
communities surrounding the CWS, the New Generation Library
Association (NGLA) created community forests, distributed
fuel-efficient stoves, and promoted clean-up and awareness
campaigns. These activities created areas where villagers
could harvest fuel wood in a sustainable manner and provided
them with stoves that many of the villagers we spoke with
said saved a significant amount of wood. In all three
communities, U Myint Aung and other project coordinators
required that every household contribute to the project by
working in the community forest and helping to clean up
litter in their villages. Many villagers also brought their
children to participate. This way, argued U Myint Aung,
villagers had a personal investment in the improvement of
their communities and therefore an interest in continuing the
positive changes in the long run.


7. (C) The heads of all three of the communities that we met
said that the forestry aspect of the project was the most
important. U Thein Win, chairman of Hle Bwe Village, said
farmers feared that climate change from deforestation would
affect the viability of their crops and were eager to do
their part in slowing the problem. All three communities
have applied for community forest certificates from the
government. If approved, these certificates would last for
30 years. All three villages expect that they will receive
the certificates because the government required them to
determine that the land they proposed to use was inadequate
for any other purpose, such as agriculture, building, or
grazing. NGLA organized tree planting in all three forests,
where villagers could raise fuel wood trees such as mezali
and export-quality sandalwood, among other species.


8. (C) In order to address the demand side of the fuel wood
problem, NGLA in conjunction with the recipient communities,
funded the purchase of fuel efficient stoves. These stoves
cost around $2 and significantly reduce the amount of wood
that households consume. One woman we met in Hle Bwe Village
said that she uses only half the amount of wood that she
required previously. Villagers from the Phothazandaung
community said that on average their fuel wood consumption
has decreased by 75 percent.


9. (C) In the Hle Bwe and Chatthin Villages, NGLA conducted
litter clean-up activities and established programs for
villagers to come together a few times each month to dispose
of accumulated trash. NGLA also posted signs to raise litter
clean-up and forest preservation awareness. We spoke with
several villagers in a market near one of the signs, all of
whom understood that they should keep their communities clean
and work to preserve the forests in their areas. One woman
admitted that she could not read well, but still understood
from others what the signs said.

The Next Steps
--------------


10. (C) NGLA recently received a second small grant from
Embassy Rangoon. They will use the funding to conduct
similar activities in other communities around the wildlife
sanctuary. U Myint Aung told us that these communities have
approached him of their own accord, because they had observed
the positive changes in the three communities with which he
has already worked. While the last grant went extremely
well, he said that he will ask villagers to create long-term
environment plans with clear goals and objectives. This way,

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he can ensure that the effects of his projects will continue
to impact the communities for years to come.


11. (SBU) All three communities also said that they face
water shortages every year during the dry season and
requested that NGLA incorporate a solution into future
projects. Most of the villagers obtain water through tube
wells that barely reach the water table at 15 to 30 feet
below the surface. U Thein Win showed us a new
government-funded tube well that was approximately 260 feet
deep and could have provided adequate water to the village.
He explained, however, that the funds dried up before the
government could buy a generator, which rendered the new well
useless. Other villages in the area have similar wells, all
of which lack generators.

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


12. (C) The project around the Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary
provides a prime example of how a small amount of money
($7,500) can create a lasting positive impact on remote
communities in Burma. These projects do make a difference,
as seen by the interest among neighboring villages to join.
The participation of all villagers, including children,
ensures that community members understand their impact on the
environment and why they have a stake in its preservation.
It also brings communities together, helping them to take
responsibility for their futures and to decide collectively
how to solve a mutual problem. By supporting projects like
this, we build the civil society a healthy democracy requires
that the Burmese military tries to repress.
VILLAROSA