Yangon ups ante in fight against illegal wildlife trade

Yangon is set to become the first major city in Southeast Asia to become free of trade in illegal wildlife parts after it ordered an immediate ban on the illicit market last week.

If the trade in such items is not immediately halted, the buyers and sellers will be charged under The Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law, under which they face punishments including up to 10 years of imprisonment.

“The education period is now over. The new law has also been made widely known. Under this law, imprisonment is included so the punishment will be severe,” U Thein Toe, director of the Forestry Department of Yangon Region told The Myanmar Times.

The regional Forestry Department is cooperating closely with the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) to enforce the ban after it carried out education campaign in all the major markets and shops around the region about the need to stop the illegal wildlife and wildlife parts trade.

As the education period has been completed successfully, U Thein Toe hopes that businesses completely end the illegal trade.

“The law has come into effect so it doesn’t matter whether the sellers agree or disagree. Education activities were already organised to address the issues,” he added.

Since 1994, the sale of protected wildlife products has been declared illegal, but law enforcement has been weak and Yangon became a major hub of the illicit activity.

The Ministry of Resources and Environmental Conservation made amendments to The Protection of Wildlife and Conservation of Natural Areas Law 1994 in order to keep it up to date and increase punishment for violators.

Parliament approved the amendments to the Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law on May 21, 2018.

In order to properly implement the law, rules and regulations were drawn up and consultations were conducted among stakeholders, including shops selling illegal wildlife parts.

Under the amended law, those who are caught commercially breeding protected wildlife could be punished by up to three years imprisonment and or a fine up K500,000 (US$320), while those caught for hunting, selling, having in possession, carrying or transferring protected endangered wildlife or their parts face up to to five years imprisonment and or a fine of K1 million.

The killing, hunting, hurting, collecting, selling, possession without approval, carrying or transferring of protected endangered wildlife under total protection or under protection and control against international trade or their parts or derivative materials is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Christy Williams, country director of the WWF-Myanmar, said his organisation will participate in the enforcement of the ban.

“I’m happy to know such an initiative has been announced in Yangon. I’m ready to support in the government’s law enforcement in the region,” Williams said.

A research conducted by the WWF-Myanmar in September last year showed that about 67 percent of the shops at Bogyoke Aung San Market and about 30pc of the shops in the vicinity of Shwedagon Pagoda are selling elephant and other wildlife parts.

The Bogyoke Aung San Market and the Shwedagon Pagoda are the two most visited places in Yangon.

The WWF-Myanmar research found that most of the buyers of the wildlife parts are Chinese nationals.

The products made of wild animal parts found at Bogyoke Aung San Market are mostly jewellery made from elephant bones and ivory. These are sold along with jade in the market. Statues made of ivory and other accessories made with wildlife parts such as tortoise shell combs are found in the shops in the vicinity of Shwedagon Pagoda.

An official from the Yangon region Forest Department said his office will work closely with local and international wildlife conservation groups, to ensure the success of the ban.

Over the past eight years, elephant poaching has intensified in Myanmar due to increased demand for their skin, meat and tusks.

The Union Forest Department said that from 2010 to 2017, a total of 165 wild elephants were lost poached; 81 of them died naturally and 84 were killed by the poachers.

The Ayeyarwady, Bago, Yangon Regions and Rakhine State are among the hotspots for elephant poaching. Data from the Forest Department showed that most of the wildlife parts it seized are from elephants, followed by Pangolins and snakes.

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