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As many as 40,000 gorgeously plumed birds known as the Gurney'spitta thrive in the lowland rainforests of economically backwardMyanmar. Across the border, Thailand's last five pairs are guardedaround the clock against snakes and human predators. The bird's status is among many reasons Myanmar is regarded as oneof Asia's last bastions of biodiversity, and why environmentalistsview the country's steps toward opening its doors with some fear. Myanmar has avoided the rapid, often rampant development seen inThailand and other parts of Asia because of decades of isolationbrought on by harsh military rule. But as foreign investors beginpouring in, activists in what was once known as Burma say endemiccorruption, virtually nonexistent environmental laws and along-repressed civil society make it "ripe for environmental rape." They hope that it will at least prove a race: pro-democracyreformers and conservationists are urging the government to putmore safeguards in place against the unscrupulous eager to takeadvantage of their absence. The rush is already on. Airplanes bound for Yangon, the nation'slargest city, are booked up with businessmen looking for deals,along with throngs of tourists. Singapore dispatched a delegationwith 74 company representatives in March while the Malaysians senta high-level investment mission focused on property development,tourism, rubber and oil palm plantations. U.S. and Europeancountries are not as involved because sanctions against Myanmarprevent them from starting new businesses there. "The 'development invasion' will speed up environmental destructionand is also likely to lead to more human rights abuses," saysPianporn Deetes of the U.S.-based International Rivers Network."Industries will move very fast, while civil society is justbeginning to learn about the impacts." Under President Thein Sein, the government last year began toloosen the military's grip on power, instituting some reforms andeven allowing democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to run, and win, aseat in Parliament. Reasons for the changes remain murky, but yearsas an international pariah have left Myanmar poor and in need offoreign investment. Environmentally, Myanmar is certainly no longer pristine, but ithas been spared some of the wholesale ravages seen in theeconomically booming, more open societies across Asia. Positioned at the core of one of the world's richest biodiversityhotspots, it's endowed with plant and animal life of the flankingHimalayas, Malay peninsula, Indian subcontinent and mainlandSoutheast Asia. Only three countries in the world have more extensive tropicalforests: Brazil, India and the Congo. Myanmar is home to 1,099 ofSoutheast Asia's 1,324 bird species, and to extensive coral reefs.Unexploited rivers, on- and offshore oil deposits and mineralsabound. "The scale is just massive. It just dwarfs everything else insurrounding countries," says Robert J. Tizard, who heads the officeof the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society in Myanmar. "Itcould be a curse that they have so many resources." Environmentalists say Myanmar's government, which remains dominatedby the military, has an abysmal record of protecting its resources,which are often exploited by enterprises linked to generals andtheir cronies. One such enterprise, the Yuzana Company, operates in the HukaungValley Wildlife Sanctuary, which the government established withconsiderable fanfare as the world's largest tiger reserve in 2001.Yuzana has razed forests in the area to plant sugar cane, and goldmining is rife. According to spokesman Ah Nah of the Kachin Development NetworkingGroup, which has been monitoring the valley since 2007, virtuallyall the concessions are within the reserve boundaries. WCS, whichpushed the regime to set up the sanctuary, says only 25 percent ofYuzana's plantations are in the park. The Myanmar company's owner, tycoon Htay Myint, enjoys close linksto the military. The country's largest money-spinning industries _energy, mining and electricity _ and those related to theenvironment are all led by retired generals. Jonathan Eames of BirdLife International, which has been trackingthe status of the Gurney's pitta, says efforts to create a park toprotect bird's habitat failed because of the military's push toreplace forests with oil palm plantations in the Tenasserim Range.Similar clearing occurred earlier across the bird's territory inThailand. Myanmar operators proved less than competent so deforestation hasslowed, but Eames expects it to accelerate again as Malaysians,Indonesians and Thais, experts at plantation management, move in. Foreign enterprises already have taken advantage elsewhere. Thaicompanies, particularly in the 1990s, decimated teak forests ineastern Myanmar and are poised to become major players at Dawei, adeep sea port and vast industrial estate being built by Thailand'slargest construction enterprise, Italian-Thai Development. It hasrecently drawn protests by locals fearing pollution of what is nowan unsullied region. Pianporn says a number of Thai companies, faced with increasinglytougher environmental laws at home, are planning to relocate their"dirty industries," including petrochemical and coal-fired plants,next door. A surge in hydroelectric projects is also expected, with China, theNo. 1 investor in Myanmar, leading the charge. In face of strongdomestic protests, the regime last September suspended constructionof the Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River although environmentalgroups recently report that work by the China Power Investmentcompany quietly continues around the dam site. Chinese loggers have stripped large areas of northern Kachin stateand others threaten southern regions. Activists stress that environmentally harmful projects often gohand-in-hand with human rights abuses such as forced labor and massrelocations. Myanmar officials say they are not blind to the dangers. Ko Ko Hlaing, an adviser to the president, said bids by foreigninvestors will be scrutinized to ensure they adhere to a policy ofsustainable development. "We Myanmar citizens are quite aware of the consequences. We cannotallow our cherished motherland to be destroyed by greedy foreigninvestors," he said in a statement to The Associated Press. In his inaugural address, Thein Sein pledged "serious attention" toprotecting forests and wildlife, reducing air and water pollutionand controlling dumping of industrial waste. But the good intentions could be dashed given Myanmar'svulnerabilities. The country ranked 180 out of 183 countries on GlobalTransparency's 2011 corruption index and is only now debating anenvironmental law in Parliament. Only sketchy guidelines forsustainable development exist. None of the some 50 major hydro projects completed, underconstruction or on the drawing boards are known to have anyenvironmental impact statements that would meet internationalstandards, according to International Rivers Network and otherenvironmental watchdogs. The Ministry of Environment Conservation and Forestry was formedonly last year and is still without a conservation division.Tizard, who works closely with the ministry, says it has someofficials who are dedicated to their work, but he and otherenvironmentalists note that their efforts can be easily subverted. "Under-the-table deals are likely to continue because the militaryis so entrenched. They or their cronies control most of thebusinesses while civil society is still very weak. It needs a lotof education," says Wong Aung, of the Burma Environmental WorkingGroup, a network of 10 grass-roots organizations. "It's a double-edged sword. There will be economic development andyou are going to have trade-offs with the environment," says RobertMather, head of the IUCN, International Union for Conservation ofNature, in Southeast Asia. There are, he says, some grounds for optimism. Myanmar has a conservation tradition, including sound forestrypractices that are lacking in many surrounding countries, and itappears eager to seek outside assistance. A number of internationalenvironmental organizations are already planning to set up there,some in partnership with the growing number of local groups. TheWildlife Conservation Society is currently the only major one witha permanent presence. Mather says Myanmar, as "the last frontier," could play hard to get_ picking only those investors with a history of transparency andenvironmental sensitivity. The selection would expand greatly if economic sanctions by Westernnations were lifted. The European Union announced last month itwill suspend most sanctions for a year while it assesses thecountry's progress toward democracy, while the United States istaking a wait-and-see attitude. "You are going back to Thailand in the 1950s with a conservationpractices of the 21st century, so there is a lot of opportunity todo it right," Tizard says. "If they follow some of the bestpractices they could do incredibly well." ___ Associated Press writers Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur and Alex Kennedyin Singapore contributed to this report. I am an expert from knittedbabywear.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Kids Plaid Shirts , China Kids Cotton Pajamas, Baby Romper Suits,and more.
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