Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park Closed Due to Myanmar Coup

In January, Myanmar’s military launched a coup against the country’s most popular political party, seizing full control of the government and ending a brief period of quasi-democracy that had begun in 2011. Since the coup, protests have broken out across the country, resulting in the deaths of more than 800 people and the displacement of an estimated 30,000-50,000 people to date.

Political stability is key for successful conservation, and unfortunately this unrest has led to the closure of Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park (AKNP), one of our Global Park Defense sites.

AKNP is the country’s oldest and largest national park, and protects the largest remaining tracts of intact forest in the country. harboring mixed deciduous, evergreen, and pine forests. Its mixed deciduous, evergreen and pine forests contain at least 165 tree species and 39 known species of medicinal plants, as well as a nationally important population of leopards and Asian elephants. Other threatened species that are protected by this park include gaur, banteng, sun bears, Asian black bears, dholes (Asian wild dogs), Sambar deer, hog badgers, and Malayan giant squirrels.

AKNP also draws about 150,000 Buddhist pilgrims that visit each year during the religious festival from January to April. They come to worship the holy remains of Lord Alaungdaw Kathapa, Buddhist royalty, which are secured in a cave deep within the park. The forests here in this national park, the only park in Asia with a famous Buddhist religious site, vibrate with life and spirituality.

Global Conservation is the first major conservation investor in AKNP In more than 20 years. In 2018, we signed an agreement with the Myanmar Ministry of the Environment. In 2019, the Myanmar Forest Department began to deploy Global Park Defense in AKNP.

AKNP is under threat from wildlife poaching and illegal logging, including illegal clearing of the final fragments of forest in the park’s buffer zone. The buffer zone has already lost more than half of its forest, restricting the migration of wildlife.

The global trade in one of AKNP’s trees, Siamese rosewood—also known as bloodwood—is thought to be even more lucrative than the trade in elephant ivory. Sadly, Myanmar faces some of the highest deforestation rates of any country in the world, having lost over 12% of its forest cover in the past 10 years. 

In the two years leading up to Myanmar’s military coup, our partners in AKNP made great strides in protecting this incredible park. 

Key Achievements, 2019-2020

1. A new command center was completed in September 2019 and handed over to the Forest Department in October 2019.
2. 19 cellular trail cameras are operational in AKNP, which have allowed AKNP park rangers to take action against a total of 34 illegal loggers and to confiscate 14 tons of rosewood, 1.25 tons of teak wood, and four motorbikes. Fifty-seven pieces of equipment (mostly chainsaws) and four poachers’ camps have also been destroyed.
3. GC provided 7 all-terrain motorcycles to AKNP rangers, which have already been used to cover hundreds of thousands of kilometers during SMART patrols and law enforcement activities.
4. GC provided 10 radios for effective park-wide communication when a mobile phone network is not available. 
5. Twenty Community Guardians were recruited from areas around the park and trained in SMART patrolling in 2019. GC provided resources including a monthly field allowance for the Community Guardians, food for patrolling, and equipment (uniform, sleeping bags and jungle shoes).

Future Goals

1. Community Guardians will be brought to other parks within Myanmar (e.g. Htamanti Wildlife Sanctuary) for learning exchange activities. Foreign exchange visits will also be implemented later. 
2. Twenty more Community Guardians will be recruited to support rangers for more effective implementation of SMART patrols and law enforcement activities. 
3. More cellular trailcams will be installed so that more information can be obtained, which will result in more effective law enforcement. 
4. GC will register to become an official organization in Myanmar. 

Despite the current political situation, we hope to be able to continue our conservation efforts in AKNP soon. In the meantime, we hope for the sake of the people of Myanmar and for its threatened wildlife that peace and stability will be restored soon.