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Text Box: Deforestation is not only causing serious ecological problems, but with the loss of the forests Karen cultural identity, indigenous knowledge, traditional beliefs and values are disappearing as well. This is a major concern of all villages visited in the course of the research. True status of the rainforest The status of the rainforest has significantly changed over the last thirty years. Around 1970 many kinds of tree species were common, such as teak, ironwood, Sgaw, Say Baw, Kyaw Kae, Thay Pa Hsa, Gaw (species from Dipterocarp family), La Ter (another kind of Dipterocarp), Padaunk, Thay Pomu Pwa, and Klaw Klay. Different kinds of bamboo grew in the forests, such as Wa Mee, Wa Klay, Wa Shu and Wa Bway. Another type of bamboo, Wa Klu, very suitable for building houses, was planted by villagers near their communities. According to the villagers in the district, there still live rare animals such as the rhinoceros, tigers, gibbons, hornbills, and Toe Khae (similar to but smaller than the hornbill) in the forests. The most common animals present are various kinds of monkeys (Ta Uu, Wah Mae), deer, barking deer, wild buffalos, gaurs, bears, wild pigs, and many kinds of birds. There are ten reserve forests in Doo The Htoo district. The British colonial government established eight of them; the other two reserve forests were set up by the KNU after Burma became independent. All of these reserve forests are in the five townships administered by the KNU. Da Thu Lu reserved forest is in Kyaito Township. O Kan Gyee, Bee Lakan Gyee and Tagaylaw reserve forests are in Bilin Township. Kyakat Chaung, Pabein, Toe Bo Gyee, and Dernu are in Thaton Township. Kyo Sein reserve forest is located in Pa-an Township, and Kalamat reserved forest in Paung Township. Toe Bo Gyee and Dernu reserve forests were set up by the KNU. The KNU declared Kyakat Chaung a wildlife sanctuary in 2000. Currently the status of the forests has completely changed. The Doo The Htoo deputy district officer of the KNU, Saw Oh Shwe estimates that only about 15% of the forests are left. Even the reserve forests exist almost only in name, except for some remains in Bilin Township. According to a Bilin Township officer, the total area of the three reserved forests in his township is about 5,252 acres, of which 20% is actually still forest, mostly in Bee Lakan Gyee reserve forest. A small piece of forest is left in Tagaylaw but O Kan Gyee reserve forest is already

Doo The Htoo District

Text Box: Doo The Htoo (in Burmese: Thaton) district is located in the plain areas between Sittang River in the northwest and Salween River in the east. Most of the land area is flat with some mountains in the far north and slopes on the eastern side of the district near the Salween River. Many villages and agricultural lands are located along the basins of Donthemi River (Baw Naw Klo in Karen) (Salween's tributary) and its tributaries such as Daw Za Chaung (Ta Uu Klo), Kyakat Chaung (Ter R'weh Klo), and other rivers like Bilin River and Theh Pyu Chaung. At present, accurate data on forests in Doo The Htoo district are not available. According to the Myanmar Forestry Department statistics of May 1991, there are two major types of forests: Tropical Wet Evergreen; stretching from northwest to south parallel to the coastal line, and Mixed Deciduous Forests spreading out from the north towards the east, lying parallel to the tropical wet evergreen and covering most of the northern and eastern part of the district. Resarch was conducted in three villages: Taung Lweh (Karen name Ta Uu Kee) in Bilin Township, and Kyakat Chaung (Ta R'weh Kee) village and Zee Woun (Saktaraw) village in Doo The Htoo Township Total areas involved: Bilin and Doo The Htoo townships in Eastern Doo The Htoo (2 out of 5 districts) Habitat types: Tropical Wet Evergreen forests (cool and very wet), Mixed Deciduous forest (hotter climate, less rain) Wildife present: wild buffalo, wild pig, 2 monkey species, bear, deer, squirrel, wild chicken and other small bird species

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