"It took less than a day for Daw Oo Naing's entire banana plantation to be destroyed. A group of 21 men carrying long knives arrived quietly in the morning and made quick work of hacking down her 600 trees, which were still young with tender trunks. Oo Naing said she tried to drive them away; using a slingshot to defend her ancestral land. "I will protect my plantation with my life," she said. "It will be the legacy of my children." But her effort was futile. Her livelihood was demolished. Under Myanmar's Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Act (VFV), introduced in 2012 as part of a slew of measures to bring in large-scale investment and development to rural areas, Oo Naing's land ownership was not legally binding. Read more: Thailand's war on drugs targets meth from Myanmar Although Oo Naing's family had reared the land for generations, their ownership was not officially documented. This is a common situation among Myanmar's 134 ethnic minorities, who constitute a third of the country' population of 51 million. Their land was considered vacant by the authorities. In effect, anyone could claim it. For example, Chinese businesses have taken over banana plantations for mass-export in Kachin. And in Rakhine state land has been taken over to build oil and gas pipelines..."