Working  Together  for  a  Be0er  Kachin  Landscape  Peter  &  co  -­‐  Shalom  Foundation,  Myitkyina  U  Myint  Aung  &  co  -­‐  Friends  of  Wildlife,  

Myanmar  Jake  &  co  -­‐  IUCN  Oliver  &  Mark-­‐  University  of  East  Anglia,  UK  Tim  -­‐  London  School  of  Economics,  UK  Kevin  –  UC  Berkeley,  US  

This  session    1.   CONNECTING  [10m]  v  Meet  your  neighbours  

2.   UNDERSTANDING  KACHIN  [30m]  

v Resource  conservaHon  &  development  under  conflict  

3.   DISCUSSION  [35m]    v Develop  insights  from  experience  

4.        SHARING  [15m]  v Report  to  the  group  

1  CONNECTING  [10  minutes]  

� Introduce  yourselves  to  neighbours  on  your  table  

� Who  are  you  &  what  do  you  do?  

2.  UNDERSTANDING  KACHIN  

a.   Resource  conflict  issues  

b.   Resources  

c.   Timeline    

d.   Our  project  process  

e.   Stakeholders  &  geopoliHcs  

a.  The  issue:  resource  conflict  

�  New  reality  of  intensifying  pressures  on  landscape  resources  

�  Interdependence  requires  coordinaOon  &  regulated  use  for  sustainability  and  equity  

�  A  ‘landscape  approach’  to  resource  governance  involves  mulO  stakeholder  negoOaOon,  compromise,  adapOve  co-­‐learning  

�  In  the  real  world  abuse  of  power  and    violent  conflict  !  agreement  difficult  

�  What  can  be  done  to  improve  processes;  

�   what  lessons  can  be  learnt?  

1.7m  popl  35,000  m2  

4  of  the  7  Myanmar  sites  expected  to  be  proposed  for  World  Heritage  status    

Kachin  contains  some  of  the  most  important  conservaHon  areas  in  Myanmar  &  SE  Asia  

C.  BUT  troubled  history  &  elusive  peace  1886  BriOsh  colonial  annexaOon  1947  Panglong  Agreement  ‘Full  autonomy  in  

the  administra2on  of  the  Fron2er  Areas  is  accepted  in  principle’  

1948  Burmese  Independence  from  BriOsh  1962  Ne  Win  military  coup  [  Kachin  

Independence  Army  (KIA)  formed  [  fighOng  

1988-­‐9  DemonstraOons,  elecOon,  but  cancelled,  Than  Shwe  military  coup  

1993  Kachin  Ceasefire  2011  FighOng  resumed  by  Burmese  Army  –  

frequent  atrociOes  against  civilians  2015  parOal  naOonal  ceasefire  agreement  –KIA  

not  parOcipaOng;      2015  November  -­‐  general  elecOon  November  

 

Myitsone  dam  plan  2007  dam  cascade  deal  –  China  Power  Industry  /Max  

Myanmar  crony  /Than  Shwe  dictatorship  �  7  dam  –  Myitsone  6,000  megawa0  140m  high  û  No  public  consultaOon  û  High  silt  load,  lifeOme  brief  û  Buy  Operate  Transfer  deal  -­‐  electricity  to  China  costs  

of  decommissioning  to  Myanmar  û  No  transparency  -­‐  secret  contract  û  corrupt  signing  fee  payment  to  senior  military  figure  û  Environmental  Impact  Assessment  nonsense  û  tectonically  acOve  –  very  high  risk  of  massive  failure  2007  Dam  building  commenced,  evicOons  2011  Dam  site  bombing  &    naOonal  mass  movement  2011  –  President  Thein  Sein  suspended  dam  

construcOon  for  decision  by  next  President  Conflict  resumed,  exacerbated  

Inundated  areas  =  much  of  Kachin  û flood  areas  ‘size  of  Singapore’    

û  Se0lements  &  food  producOon  lands  

û  confluence  areas  and  much  of  river  culturally  revered  by  Kachin  

û highest  conservaOon  value  area  in  region  /  global  

û KIA  territory  to  be  flooded  =  military  strategy  

Seismic  hazard  

Rese0lement  

•  BASIC  CONSTRUCTION  ABILITIES  INADEQUATE  •  NO  ALTERNATE  LAND  FOR  FOOD  PRODUCTION  •  SOME  RETURNING  FROM  DESPERATION  BUT  INTIMIDATED  AND  TORTURED  

Over-­‐logging[  forest  degradaOon      land  conversion  [  deforestaOon  

0  

5000  

10000  

15000  

20000  

25000  

30000  

2011-­‐2012   2012-­‐2013   2013-­‐2014  

Conversion  Hmber  Bamaw  &  Shweku  townships,  Kachin  

state  (MTE  data)  No  of  trees  felled  

Volume  (HT)  

0  

5000  

10000  

15000  

20000  

25000  

30000  

35000  

Num

bar  o

f  Trees  

Myitkyina  Forest  Management  Unit  Other  Hardwoods  (FD  data)  

AAC  

Felled  

•  Official  over-­‐extraction  compared  to  the  Annual  Allowable  Cut  -­‐  resource  exhausted  

•  Massive  volumes  of  conversion  timber  from    agribusiness  concessions        

SystemaHc  illegal  Hmber  extracHon  by  Chinese  Hmber  agents  in  concert  with  Burmese  military,  Kachin  Independence  Army  

Land  grabbing  !unaccounted  conversion  timber   Domestic  supply  criminalized  

Community  forestry  successful  with  Shalom  facilitaOon      but  scaling  up  not  being  approved  by  Chief  Minister  

TradiOonal  Taungya  –    Long  fallows  forest  culOvaOon  

•  Traditional  Kachin  food  security  system  

•  Sustainable  fallowing  –  promotes  forest  recovery  &  timber  production  

•  Biodiverse  mosaic  •  Hostile  policy  environment  –  tenure  insecurity  &  eviction  

Fisheries  �  EssenOal  source  of  nutriOon  

�  EssenOal  livelihood  acOvity  

�  Fish  biodiversity  

�  Fishery  aucOon  system  pro-­‐elite  /  excluding  common  ciOzens  

�  Criminal  gangs  using  destrucOve  electro  &  explosive  fishing  

�  Mercury  toxicity  

Mining  &  polluOon  •  Widespread  valuable  deposits:    gold,  jade,  molybdenum  etc.  

•  Mining  degrading  land  

•  Gold  refining  –  widespread  release  of  mercury  =  serious  public  health  crisis    

A  cartoonist’s  view:  

“These  are  our  poliOcians”  

Our  project  

Village  action  research  

Technical  review  

Multi  stakeholder  Policy  influencing  workshop  

Support  to  implement  improved  NR  policies  &  practices  

Kachin  parliament-­‐arians  2014  

Activating    Township  Environmental  Conservation  Committees  

Discussion  [30  mins]  In  each  table:  

1.   How  to  reconcile  resource  conservaHon  with  development  in  non-­‐conflict  context  –  what  is  your  experience?  (sustainably  &  equity)    

2.   How  does  conflict  situaHon  affect  this–  how  to  proceed  in  Kachin?  

Please  share  your  experiences  and  impressions  [on  1  page  of  whiteboard  for  each  &  prepare  to  report]  

ReflecOon  

�  What  have  we  learnt?  

�  What  are  the  implicaOons  for  Kachin  scenario?