Myanmar: Myanmar's Indigenous People Fight 'Fortress' Conservation

Aug 6, 2018 | Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation
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Saw Ma Bu fears his way of life is under threat as the government declares swathes of forest in indigenous Karen homelands as protected areas. He and other community leaders have drawn up their own plan to conserve the forest, preserve their traditions and livelihoods, and be a model for indigenous lands elsewhere in the country. Under their proposal, the Karen people would manage the Salween Peace Park, a 5,200 sq km (2,008 sq mile) area on Myanmar's eastern frontier with Thailand.