Trees in Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park uprooted by PDFs
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Htet Nadi/ Thet Paing (NP News) - May 12
It has been learned from a source familiar with the situation that members of the People’s Defense Force (PDF) are uprooting and extracting trees, including their roots, from Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, which lies within Kani and Mingin Townships of Sagaing Region.
The park, which has been designated as an ASEAN Heritage Park, is reportedly being exploited by a PDF group led by Bo Thanmani. The group has been felling trees and removing them, using excavation machinery to dig up the tree roots as well.
“They’re doing this with short-sighted and self-interest,” the source said. “Bo Thanmani, who previously killed civilians without reason, is leading the operation, and it’s overseen by a former NLD MP from Yinmarbin. This is a place of great value that should be protected at the ASEAN level, yet they’re exploiting it as if it were just for a single meal.”
It was also reported that local residents who want to harvest timber from Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park have to pay the PDF group a nightly fee of 400,000 kyats.
It has been reported that locals who wish to extract timber are only allowed to use a single ox-cart, while the PDF members themselves are using vehicles to transport large quantities of wood. If civilians attempt to harvest timber without paying the required fee, they are reportedly fined up to 500,000 kyats.
The PDF group led by Bo Thanmani is said to have already cleared timber from all accessible areas along the roads where vehicles can enter. As a result, most of the trees along the route to Alaungdaw Kathapa and its surrounding plains have been depleted, with an estimated total extraction volume reaching around 2,000 tons.
It is known that the Alaungdaw Kathapa region was first designated as a forest reserve in 1893 and later reclassified as a protected forest in 1941.
In 1989, it was officially designated as a national park due to its rich diversity of forest types and wildlife species. Owing to this ecological significance, it was later recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park.