Opinion: Perilous Future for Myanmar’s Pristine Forests after Coup

Jun 21, 2021 | Faith Doherty
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On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s armed forces launched a coup d’état. The country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested, along with senior members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which had won elections by a landslide in November 2020.

About 400 elected members of parliament were placed under house arrest and a state of emergency was declared, with General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief, alleging widespread electoral fraud and stating he would remain in power until new elections took place.

Overnight, Myanmar went from a being stratocracy to a military dictatorship. It has been subjected to military rule before, from 1962 to 2011, and holds the record for the longest ongoing civil war, waged against ethnic groups in areas where the most natural resources are found. 

Since the coup, a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) has grown throughout the country. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to resist the military, including many communities from rural areas.