MYANMAR BURNS $1.15 MILLION WORTH OF ILLEGAL IVORY

Myanmar burnt $1.15 million worth of ivory and other seized illegal wildlife parts in a symbolic stand against the trade.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, according to the Chinese media outlet Xinhuanet.

The outlet reports that 219 pieces of ivory were burnt, alongside 210 pieces of dried elephant’s trunk, 527 wild animal bones, 800 horns, 134.7 kg of pangolin scales, and 241 other wildlife parts.

The event intended to raise awareness of the legal stance on the wildlife part trade in Myanmar, and send a message to the general public that wildlife crime — including poaching — is not tolerated across the country.

U Win Naing Thaw — the director of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation — told the Myanmar Times prior to the event, “I regret the burning of the wildlife parts, but I feel sorrier for the live animals that are traded illegally.” He continued, “it is illegal to sell these parts on the black market, so they are being burned.”

More and more countries are turning their backs on the sale of ivory. In April last year, the UK announced one of the world’s toughest bans on the trade, banning ivory items of all ages. In other countries, ivory is allowed if it can be dated past a certain point. If the law on ivory is broken, offenders could face up to five years in prison.

The UK’s environment secretary Michael Gove said in a statement at the time, “Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol, so we will introduce one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales to protect elephants for future generations.”

“The ban on ivory sales we will bring into law will reaffirm the UK’s global leadership on this critical issue,” he continued. “Demonstrating our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past.”

Last February, Hong Kong also voted to ban the ivory trade for good by 2021, and in the U.S., Illinois became the ninth state to ban the sale of ivory and rhino horn in August last year.

Earlier this month, Myanmar opened an elephant museum in Yangon. The Irrawaddy reports that the site is dedicated to raising awareness of the plights facing elephants, including poaching.

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Authorities arrest suspected illegal wildlife trader

Law enforcement officers on Sunday arrested a man suspected to be an illegal wildlife trader and seized an assortment of wildlife parts found in his possession.

The suspect was arrested on the Mandalay-Lashio road in Patheingyi township in Mandalay Region, according to the Forest Department.

Seized from the suspect were 10 golden deer horns and tortoise chest shells, among others, the department said.

In Yangon Region, the government will burn wildlife parts seized from poachers on March 3 to mark World Wildlife Day, said U Win Naing Thaw, director of the department’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division.

During a similar event in Nay Pyi Taw on October 4, the government incinerated US$1.3 million (K1.3 billion) worth of wildlife parts, including 277 elephant tusks, 5 elephant bones, 222 tiger and other wild cat bones, 45 skins, 1544 horns, 45 kilogrammes of pangolin scales, and 128 tortoise shells.

The authorities set aside some wildlife parts, such as elephant tusks, animal horns, skins and bones, for display at an elephant museum to raise public awareness about the importance of protecting biodiversity and fighting the illegal trade in wild animals, plants and flowers, according to the department.

The illegal trade in wildlife and parts is estimated to be worth over US$40 billion a year globally. In Myanmar, it is worth an estimated US$3 million.

U Win Naing Thaw said the burning of wildlife parts in Yangon aims to send a strong message to illegal wildlife traders that the government is serious about ending the illicit trade.

“This will serve to raise awareness about the need to reduce illegal trading and the killing of wildlife,” U Win Naing Thaw said, adding that the campaign will also target accessories and medicine made from illegal wildlife parts.

As of last month, 17 wild elephants had been killed and 42 perpetrators arrested and charged with the killings this year.

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Yangon Strives to Rid City of Illegal Wildlife Trade

The Yangon Region Forest Department is working with international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) to designate Yangon as the first city in Southeast Asia free of the illegal wildlife trade. Director U Thein Toe recently sat down with The Irrawaddy’s Thazin Hlaing to discuss what steps the department was taking to fight the illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar’s commercial capital.

The Forest Department has educated souvenir shops about preventing wildlife trade in Yangon. Has it taken action against any violators?

We haven’t for the time being. But to prevent elephant poaching, we are cooperating with partner INGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Society Organization as well as the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Forestry Police and Myanmar Police Force. Combined teams of those officials including ward and village administrators conduct regular patrols in the forests. As the Protection of Biodiversity and Conservation Areas Law has been enacted, we have plans to make Yangon free of the illegal wildlife trade.

Is Yangon the first in Myanmar to declare a no-illegal wildlife trade zone?

We have been working on it. Other cities will also follow suit. The law is in effect across the country.

What will the difficulties be? Do you think the idea is feasible?

Yangon is the city that receives the most international travelers to Myanmar. Travelers come to Yangon both by air and by ship. So there is more illegal wildlife trade compared to other cities. We want to ban the making of souvenirs and handicrafts with animal parts that are smuggled into Yangon from various parts of the country.

Since last year, we have educated souvenir shops that usually sell souvenirs made of animal parts at Bogyoke Market as well as Shwedagon Pagoda to stop selling them. And we have also done the same with restaurants that sell wildlife meat. And we assume we have educated them enough to stop selling them. And as a new law has been enacted, we have issued a warning that we will take harsh action against violations.

What action will be taken?

The law sets a minimum imprisonment of three years and a maximum imprisonment of 10 years for hunting and illegally trading wildlife protected under by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Myanmar is a signatory. So if someone is found guilty, he will be imprisoned.

Fines can also be imposed. But it depends on the thinking and decision of the judge. The advantage of this law is that it fully protects endangered wildlife species that are listed by CITES.

What are the fully protected wildlife species?

For example, elephants, tigers, bears and pangolins. Among bird species, peacocks and hornbills are fully protected. And among reptiles, pythons and so on are fully protected.

How many souvenir shops and restaurants sell wildlife parts and meat in Yangon?

Souvenir shops at Shwedagon Pagoda and Bogyoke Market sell souvenirs made of wildlife parts, and the rest are restaurants. There are a certain number of them in town. I don’t want to disclose details.

What things are found most on the market?

Barking deer, sambar and snake meat are usually eaten. And lucky charms and handicrafts made of elephant tusks, tiger teeth and boar tusks are sold. Selling those things amounts to illegal wildlife trade. Even toys made of animal parts are part of the illegal wildlife trade.

What is the cause of the extinction of wildlife and flora?
The main cause is humans. Because they are rare things, rich foreigners buy them at high prices to consume or make medicine and cosmetics from them. So they are hunted to the brink of extinction.

Previously, wild elephants were poached for their tusks. But now they are hunted also for their trunks, hide and meat. So every part of an elephant is sold on the illegal market now. This is due to the demand from the neighboring country [China].

Are all animal parts sold on the market in Yangon illegal? Is some part of the business legal?

There is a law regarding this. Some people have private elephants. If those elephants die of disease or old age, the owners have to inform the nearest forest department, whose vet will check the cause of death and issue a death certificate along with a documentary photo. Owners are allowed to keep the parts from their dead elephants in that case.

Some ethnic people wear wildlife parts as ornaments as a part of their traditional garb. In that case, they can also wear them by registering them. If people’s ancestors have registered their own wildlife, the following generations have the right to own their parts. But trading them to a third party is not allowed.

So you mean all the things that are not registered with the government are illegal?

Yes they are.

So is anything officially registered in Yangon?

There are hardly any privately owned elephants in Yangon. And ethnic people almost never wear their traditional garb in Yangon. So nothing is registered.

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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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