Amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, Karen and other ethnic minority communities have officially launched the Thawthi Taw-Oo Indigenous Park, a new community-led conservation area in the northern Kayin state. The launch lasted December 10-12, 2024. Organizers of the park say this new conservation area is a move to strengthen their self-determination and agency over lands and resources. “Launching the park was an announcement of our rights over the lands and natural resources that we have cared for for generations with our customary laws, governance and administration,” said Saw Thaw Tu Htoo, one of the founders of the park’s committee and the secretary of Taw-Oo district. Covering an area of 575,450 hectares (1,421,967 acres) and 318 villages, the park includes 28 kaws (ancestral customary lands), four community forests, seven watersheds, six reserved forests and one wildlife sanctuary. It is just north of the Salween Peace Park, an award-winning Karen-led protected area of similar size, and is situated in one of the most biodiverse areas of the Asia-Pacific. The founders of the park’s committee, Saw Ma Bu Htoo and Saw Thaw Tu Htoo, told Mongabay that the conservation area was envisioned back in 2017. The park was created in a collaboration between communities, the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) civil society organization and the forestry and agriculture departments of the Karen National Union (KNU), a political organization vying for Karen independence. Representatives of these groups sit on the park’s management committee. Many ethnic groups, including Karen subgroups, the Pa’O and…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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