WWF

Vast majority in Myanmar now support closing wildlife markets – WWF survey

May 4, 2020 by Thiha

A huge majority of people in Myanmar support shutting down wildlife markets to prevent another pandemic, a survey released on Monday by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has found. Ninety-one percent of respondents in Myanmar said they believed the closure of illegal animal markets would prevent a similar crisis, the organisation said. The survey, with […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: COVID-19, Myanmar, wildlife markets, WWF

Illegal charcoal trade threatens Myanmar’s remaining mangroves

April 22, 2019 by Thiha

Mangroves from Myanmar are illegally harvested and converted into charcoal that is sent to Thailand before it’s sold to China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia by sea. The depletion of mangroves in southern Myanmar is impacting local fisheries near the island villages. The illegal charcoal trade persists due to a lack of law enforcement […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: carbon emissions, charcoal, Illegal, mangroves, RANONG, Timber, WWF

MMA Star Aung La N Sang to Help Fight Illegal Wildlife Trade

November 19, 2018 by Thiha

Aung La N Sang, the most celebrated cage fighter in Myanmar’s history, has been appointed by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Myanmar as its ambassador for fighting wildlife crime. “The fight to protect wildlife and stop wildlife crime in our country is a fight that is close to my heart,” said the Kachin mixed martial arts […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Aung La N Sang, biodiversity, black market, Burmese pythons, CITES, conservation, fighter, Illegal Trade, Ken Hasegawa, martial arts, Myanmar, ONE championship, Pangolin, singapore, Wild Fauna and Flora, Wildlife, wildlife crime, wildlife smuggling, World Wildlife Fund, WWF

Myanmar-Thailand highway branded ‘ecological and social disaster’

September 11, 2018 by Thiha

Community and conservation groups in Myanmar have branded a planned highway linking a port project to Thailand an “ecological and social disaster”, saying it would uproot indigenous people from their homes and farms. Critics said an environmental and social impact assessment for the road project, approved by the Myanmar government in June, failed to adequately […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: armed ethnic groups, community, Conversation Groups, critics, ecological and social disaster, Extemsuve Recommendations, Myanmar-Thailand highway, Myanmar's environment ministry, Risk of conflict, Road Project, SEZ, Solutions, World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF

Myanmar urged to tap green power

August 14, 2018 by Thiha

Given that nearly 70 per cent of the population in Myanmar lacks access to electricity, the government must optimise its abundant natural resources to implement green energy projects in order to solve its power crisis, says Shoon So Oo, energy programme manager at World Wildlife Fund Myanmar. “For Myanmar’s economy to go further, we must […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: carbon emissions, Central Myanmar, clean energy, energy programme manager, fossil fuel-based energy, green energy projects, IRENA global atlas, Kanchanaburi, Kayin State government, Large-scale solar projects, Ministry of Electricity and Energy, Myanmar lacks access to electricity, Myanmar's Electricity Vision, renewable sources, Shoon So Oo, Solar, Tanintharyi Region, World Wildlife Fund Myanmar, WWF

Myanmar’s food sector being transformed by investment in production and sustainability measures

July 26, 2018 by Thiha

A cleaner production and higher sustainability project for Myanmar’s food and beverage industry is bringing much needed transformation. Tha Bar Wa, a four-year project, it is being implemented by the World Wid Fund for Nature (WWF), in partnership with the Myanmar Food Processors and Exporters Association (MFPEA) and Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC). […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: a four-year project, and Environmental Conservation, Ayeyarwady State, EMP, Environmental Management Plan, eu, food and beverage industry, Gaurav Gupta, H.E. Kristian Schmidt, MFPEA, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Natural Resources, MOE, MOI, MONREC, Myanmar Food Processors’ and Exporters’ Association, Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation, SBFIC, Silvia Sartori, SMEs, sustainable business programme manager, SWITCH- Asia Programme, Tha Bar Wa, Tha Bar Wa Project Manager, the EU’s ambassador, The European Union, U Sein Thaung Oo, vice-chairman of MFPEA, wastewater treatment system, World Wid Fund, WWF, Yangon City Development Committee, YCDC

Clashing with the law, SEZ body to resurrect Dawei megaproject

July 18, 2018 by Thiha

Myanmar’s SEZ working body announced that the long-suspended Dawei SEZ project will be resurrected this October, in a move which is set to clash with the Environmental Conservation Law because there is no known site-wide environment assessment conducted or approved. U Than Myint, chair of the SEZ Central Working Body, said during a meeting with […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2015 Environmental Impact Assessment, Bangkok, Chair, Charlie Thame, Commerce Minister, Dawei, Dawei megaproject, Dawei SEZ, Dawei SEZ Project, ECC, EIA, EIA consultation process, Environmental Compliance Certificate, Environmental Conservation Law, hluttaw, Htee-Khee village, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, Italian-Thai Development, ITD, Japan, Loan, Myanmar, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, NGOs, Premchai Karnasuta, Private Sector Development Committee, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Sean Bain, Tanintharyi communities, Tanintharyi Region, Thai firm, Thailand, Thammasat University, the ICJ’s legal adviser, U Than Myint, World Wildlife Fund, WWF

Rivers are invaluable to South East Asia

October 26, 2017 by Thiha

How many different ways can you measure a river? By its length and how many countries it passes through? The volume of water flowing along its course? The number of species it supports? Perhaps the most important – and largely overlooked – measure of a river is its value to the economy and wellbeing of […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: agricultural land, Ayeyarwady Delta, economic development, economic planning agencies, environmental agencies, farming, Greater Mekong Forum, Greater Mekong region, hydropower, local communities, Lower Mekong basin, Mekong and Ayeyarwady, Mississippi delta, Mississippi River, Myanmar’s Cyclone Nargis, natural pesticide, property costs, protein, real socio-economic cost, river ecosystems, Sand mining, South East Asia, soya agriculture, supply chains, sustainable development goals, tourism, under-funded water resource, US government, Water Risk Filter, WWF, Yangon

Skin cure fad driving Myanmar elephant poaching surge: WWF

June 13, 2017 by Thiha

YANGON: Myanmar’s wild elephants are being poached in record numbers with at least 20 killed this year due to surging demand for their hide, WWF said Monday, warning the species is facing a “crisis”. Hunters are increasingly targeting mothers and calves, using poisoned arrows to inflict a slow and agonising death before stripping them of […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: AFP, Bago Yoma, country's lawless, criminal gangs, crisis, Dollars, elephant population, elephant products, Elephant skin, exotic animals, Global wildlife law enforcement specialist, global wildlife trafficking trade, Golden Rock, Hunters, latest animal products, Myanmar Elephant, Myanmar's government, Rohit Singh, second-largest population, sophisticated criminal network, Southeast Asia, Thailand, the Irrawaddy Delta sites, traditional medicine, vendors, wildlife group, wildlife NGO, WWF

What’s so special about a white elephant?

March 3, 2015 by thiha

The expression “white elephant” refers to a gift, typically cumbersome and large in size, that is difficult to dispose of and exorbitantly expensive to maintain. Like, say, something that eats 200 to 600 pounds of food in a single day. Legend holds that the king of Siam would bestow white elephants upon his wilier courtiers, […]