Hein Line villagers worried by plan to save environment in Tanintharyi

The main street in Hein Line village was deserted as the villagers gathered at a house to discuss a project that aims to protect key biodiversity areas in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region, namely Ridge to Reef: Integrated Protected Area Land and Seascape Management in Tanintharyi.

U Saw Maung Chit, 58, a resident of Hein Line village, was apprehensive he would lose his livelihood because of the project.

The project, backed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) establishes, for the first time, integrated land and seascape planning and management in Myanmar.

It is aimed at long-term sustainable development and ecological security of Tanintharyi’s marine, coastal and terrestrial biodiversity through integrated planning, management and protection involving a wide range of stakeholders, the local communities and indigenous people.

The conservation project – with total funding of more than US$21 million – will be carried out by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Forest Department, the Department of Fisheries, the regional government, the UNDP, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the Smithsonian Institution. According to the UNDP, the project will take six years, ending in 2023.

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