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Description: "Given that the proposed Dawei Industrial Development project and associated road to Thailand have been approved and are likely to be built in the coming years, WWF has significant concerns about the potential impacts on the globally important biodiversity of the Tanintharyi Region, including tiger habitat, dense forests, species-rich rivers and marine resources, which are a critical resource for local communities. The Dawei Project cannot avoid impacting the environment and communities in the region, but WWF believes that those impacts must be minimized by careful planning and use of mitigation measures throughout the process, from design to development to completion and beyond. WWF calls on the governments of Thailand and Myanmar, as well as the project?s developers, to first carry out a comprehensive strategic environmental assessment, including social impacts, of the project, including the sea port, industrial zone and associated industries and the road between the Myanmar Special Economic Zone and Thailand. WWF also recommends that the results of the assessments, be used by technical experts, community representatives, and the project developers to design the project in a way that prioritizes the value of the region?s critical ecosystem services, biodiversity and community needs. Negative environmental impacts from the Dawei project should be monitored and mitigated before, during and after construction and fair compensation provided for those affected."
Creator/author: Hanna Helsingen (WWF), Sai Nay Won Myint (WWF), Nirmal Bhagabati (WWF), Adam Dixon (WWF), Nasser Olwero (WWF), Ashley Scott Kelly (University of Hong Kong), Dorothy Tang (University of Hong Kong).
Source/publisher: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
2015-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-11-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 3.39 MB
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Description: "Villagers in Karen areas of southeast Myanmar continue to face widespread land confiscation at the hands of a multiplicity of actors. Much of this can be attributed to the rapid expansion of domestic and international commercial interest and investment in southeast Myanmar since the January 2012 preliminary ceasefire between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Myanmar government. KHRG first documented this in a 2013 report entitled ?Losing Ground?, which documented cases of land confiscation between January 2011 and November 2012. This report, ?With only our voices, what can we do??, is a follow up to that analysis and highlights continued issue areas while identifying newly documented trends. The present analysis assesses land confiscation according to a number of different factors, including: land use type; geographic distribution across KHRG?s seven research areas; perpetrators involved; whether or not compensation and/or consultation occurred; and the effects that confiscation had on local villagers. This report also seeks to highlight local responses to land confiscation, emphasising the agency that individuals and communities in southeast Myanmar already possess and the obstacles that they face when attempting to protect their own human rights. By focusing on local perspectives and giving priority to villagers? voices, this report aims to provide local, national, and international actors with a resource that will allow them to base policy and programmatic decisions that will impact communities in southeast Myanmar more closely on the experiences and concerns of the people living there."..... Toungoo (Taw Oo) District... Hpa-an District... Dooplaya District... Hpapun (Mutraw) District... Mergui-Tavoy District... Thaton (Doo Tha Htoo) District... Nyaunglebin (Kler Lwee Htoo) District...
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2015-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Karen and Burmese
Format : pdf pdf pdf pdf pdf pdf pdf
Size: 5 MB 5.54 MB 2.81 MB 2.75 MB 2.67 MB 613.66 KB 949.09 KB
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Description: Encompassing more than 2 million km? of tropical Asia, Indo-Burma is still revealing its biological treasures. Six large mammal species have been discovered in the last 12 years: the large-antlered muntjac, the Annamite muntjac, the grey-shanked douc, the Annamite striped rabbit, the leaf deer, and the saola. This hotspot also holds remarkable endemism in freshwater turtle species, most of which are threatened with extinction, due to over-harvesting and extensive habitat loss. Bird life in Indo-Burma is also incredibly diverse, holding almost 1,300 different bird species, including the threatened white-eared night-heron, the grey-crowned crocias, and the orange-necked partridge.
Source/publisher: Conversation International
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: China was variously described as plunderer and arch destroyer of Burma?s natural resources on the 38th World Environment Day today, by local people and environmental activists.Mindless logging and rampant mining in northern Burma by China for over two decades has led to widespread deforestation, pollution of rivers and land with Mercury used in gold mining. There is now varied ecological dysfunction that the country has to contend with. 060510-timber
Source/publisher: Kachin News Group (KNG)
2010-07-07
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Kachin State in northern Burma is sitting on a powder keg of an ecological disaster. From impending dam related devastation to the rape of the environment in terms of incalculable damage to the flora and fauna has rendered the state extremely vulnerable. Rampant felling of trees and the wanton killing of myriad wildlife for filthy lucre for export to China has led to a serious situation which is far from being addressed.
Source/publisher: Kachin News
2008-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: More than 20 mega-dams are being constructed or planned on Burma?s major rivers, including the Salween and Irrawaddy, by multinationals without consulting local communities, a wide range of NGOs charged in a statement Friday. In addition, the group charged, mining, oil and gas projects are creating severe environmental and social problems. Several papers are to be delivered on Sept. 18 in an all-day seminar in Bangkok on the impact and consequences of overseas investment in large-scale projects in Burma that say as many as 30 companies from China alone are investing in dam projects on the two rivers.
Source/publisher: Asia Sentinel
2010-09-17
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Conclusion: "Kachin State is rich in natural resources. Its location near resourcehungry China and its rule by people in need of hard currency has resulted in the unsustainable exploitation of its natural resources. In addition, the complex governance system makes management of these resources difficult. This research has attempted to reflect the situation of the many voiceless people in Kachin State. A pragmatic approach is required to work together with all stakeholders. An opportunity should be opened for the active participation of local stakeholders in managing their resources not only for current but future generations. Regardless of the country?s political situation, international assistance for conservation in Myanmar is needed urgently. Such aid is required not for the support of undemocratic practices, but to help the people of Myanmar, who deserve to manage their environment through the country?s democratisation process."
Creator/author: Tint Lwin Thaung
Source/publisher: 2006 Burma Update Conference via Australian National University
2007-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-12-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 117.53 KB
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Description: Executive Summary: "This report describes how human rights and environmental abuses continue to be a serious problem in eastern Pegu division, Burma ? specifi cally, in Shwegyin township of Nyaunglebin District. The heavy militarization of the region, the indiscriminate granting of mining and logging concessions, and the construction of the Kyauk Naga Dam have led to forced labor, land confi scation, extortion, forced relocation, and the destruction of the natural environment. The human consequences of these practices, many of which violate customary and conventional international law, have been social unrest, increased fi nancial hardship, and great personal suffering for the victims of human rights abuses. By contrast, the SPDC and its business partners have benefi ted greatly from this exploitation. The businessmen, through their contacts, have been able to rapidly expand their operations to exploit the township?s gold and timber resources. The SPDC, for its part, is getting rich off the fees and labor exacted from the villagers. Its dam project will forever change the geography of the area, at great personal cost to the villagers, but it will give the regime more electricity and water to irrigate its agro-business projects. Karen villagers in the area previously panned for gold and sold it to supplement their incomes from their fi elds and plantations. They have also long been involved in small-scale logging of the forests. In 1997, the SPDC and businessmen began to industrialize the exploitation of gold deposits and forests in the area. Businessmen from central Burma eventually arrived and in collusion with the Burmese Army gained mining concessions and began to force people off of their land. Villagers in the area continue to lose their land, and with it their ability to provide for themselves. The Army abuses local villagers, confi scates their land, and continues to extort their money. Commodity prices continue to rise, compounding the diffi culties of daily survival. Large numbers of migrant workers have moved into the area to work the mining concessions and log the forests. This has created a complicated tension between the Karen and these migrants. While the migrant workers are merely trying to earn enough money to feed their families, they are doing so on the Karen?s ancestral land and through the exploitation of local resources. Most of the migrant workers are Burman, which increases ethnic tensions in an area where Burmans often represent the SPDC and the Army and are already seen as sneaky and oppressive by the local Karen. These forms of exploitation increased since the announcement of the construction of the Kyauk Naga Dam in 2000, which is expected to be completed in late 2006. The SPDC has enabled the mining and logging companies to extract as much as they can before the area upstream of the dam is fl ooded. This situation has intensifi ed and increased human rights violations against villagers in the area. The militarization of the region, as elsewhere, has resulted in forced labor, extortion of money, goods, and building materials, and forced relocation by the Army. In addition to these direct human rights violations, the mining and dam construction have also resulted in grave environmental degradation of the area. The mining process has resulted in toxic runoff that has damaged or destroyed fi elds and plantations downstream. The dam, once completed, will submerge fi elds, plantations, villages, and forests. In addition, the dam will be used to irrigate rubber plantations jointly owned by the SPDC and private business interests. The Burmese Army has also made moves to secure the area in the mountains to the east of the Shwegyin River. This has led to relocations and the forced displacement of thousands of Karen villagers living in the mountains. Once the Army has secured the area, the mining and logging companies will surely follow..."
Source/publisher: EarthRights International (ERI)
2007-02-20
Date of entry/update: 2007-03-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Shrimp farming has led to serious conflict over land rights and access to natural resources. Resulting social problems include increased poverty, landlessness, and reduced food security. In Ecuador, a single hectare of mangrove forest has been shown to provide food and livelihood for ten families, while a prawn farm of 110 hectares employs just six people during preparation and a further five during harvest. Globally, tens of thousands of rural poor in developing countries have been displaced following the impact of shrimp farming on traditional livelihoods. For instance, 20 thousand fisher-folk in Sri Lanka?s Puttalam District migrated following declines of fish catches following the advent of shrimp farming. Wealth generated by exporting farmed shrimp rarely trickles down to the communities affected by the industry. Corruption, poor governance and greed have resulted in powerful individuals making vast sums of money from shrimp farming with little regard for the basic human rights of the poor communities living in shrimp farming areas. "It is another example of resource-use conflict in which the poor and vulnerable are suppressed by a powerful elite intent on making quick profits, whilst turning a blind eye to the abuses that result" said Dr Mike Shanahan of EJF..." Examples from Burma
Source/publisher: Environmental Justice Foundation
2003-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Paper submitted to the forty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women March 4-15, 2002 by Women?s League of Burma (WLB). "...The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the root causes of poverty and environmental degradation in Burma, and show how this has affected women and to give examples of how women are organizing themselves to survive and create an enabling environment for political and social change, and for gender equality..."
Source/publisher: Women?s League of Burma (WLB)
2002-03-15
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 61.94 KB
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Description: Environment and Freedom of Expression in Burma. In the past decade, there has been a growing international consensus over the fundamental relationship between the universal values of "human rights", "environmental rights" and "development rights". "The Myanmar Tourism Policy is based on preservation of cultural heritage, protection of natural environment, regional development and generation of foreign exchange earnings."
Creator/author: Martin Smith
Source/publisher: Article 19
1994-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "One of the world?s "biodiversity hotspots" is under siege, as a growing number of business interests seek to cash in the "peace" in northern Burma?s Kachin State... A project is in progress to build a number of roads in Kachin State in return for huge logging concessions. While improving and expanding the infrastructure in Kachin State is much needed, the impact of this deal on the environment could prove to be disastrous..."
Creator/author: John S. Moncreif, Htun Myat
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 8
2001-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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