Burma Presents Tiger Plan in Russia Amid Massive Destruction in World’s Largest Tiger Reserve

By Kachin Development Networking Group • November 20, 2010

As the 13 nations with tiger populations prepare to attend the first ever Global Tiger Summit, the world’s largest tiger reserve in northern Burma’s remote Hugawng Valley is under threat from massive mono-crop plantations being established by Htay Myint, one of Burma’s most powerful tycoons.

Htay Myint’s Yuzana Company, a Burmese conglomerate with close ties to the ruling military, was granted 200,000 acres within the Hugawng Valley Tiger Reserve in 2006 to establish sugar cane and tapioca plantations. A report released by the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) in August this year details how fleets of bulldozers and backhoes have been razing forests and destroying animal corridors, leaving only the conservation signboards standing.

The Reserve was established in 2001 with the support of the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). However WCS has remained silent on this destruction of the Reserve and has claimed that Hugawng Valley will be a cornerstone of tiger conservation in the future.

The Myanmar National Tiger Recovery Plan, to be submitted at the Summit, proposes to double the tiger population in the Valley from 50 to 100 within twelve years.

“The destruction in Hugawng makes a mockery of the Myanmar Tiger Plan,” said KDNG spokesperson Ah Nan. “Yuzana is doing whatever it likes with the aid of the generals and the silence of conservationists. If it is not stopped, the entire reserve is under threat.”

“We call on all Summit attendees to challenge the Myanmar delegation to stop corporate destruction of this important reserve before considering any further tiger conservation programming.”

The Kachin Development Group report also documents the struggles of indigenous farmers being forcibly relocated to make way for the plantations. They have organized themselves to resist attacks and intimidation from Yuzana and regime officials, opened a court case against the company and asked the International Labor Organization to intervene. One farmer leader recently ran in Burma’s elections but she lost to the regime’s former Military Commander for the Northern Region amid allegations of vote fraud.

Contact: Ah Nan +66 84 885 4154 [email protected]

The Kachin Development Networking Group has been monitoring the situation in the Hugawng Valley since 2006, publishing “Valley of Darkness” in 2007.

Download the full report Tyrants, Tycoons and Tigers here.