NGO worked with Myitsone dam firm to establish Kachin wildlife park in NDA-K area

The logo of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and a snub-nosed monkey in Kachin state, northern Burma.

Fauna & Flora International (FFI), a British environmental organization cooperated with the Burmese subsidiary of a major Chinese dam firm to establish the Imawbum National Park in eastern Kachin state which aims to protect the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey.  The rare species was first discovered by FFI researchers in Kachin state in 2010.

Information detailing FFI's cooperation with the dam firm was disclosed in a corporate social responsibility report released by China Power Investment (CPI's) Burmese subsidiary's Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower Co (ACHC).  The report which was released last December states that "In 2012, ACHC cooperated with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) for setting up Imawbum National Park in the northern Myanmar."

It remains unclear what exactly ACHC did to assist FFI and BANCA with the setting up of the park. Many Kachin environmentalists are very critical of ACHC which will run the deeply unpopular Myitsone dam for 50 years if the stalled project ends up being built. In September 2011 President Thein officially suspended the building of the dam citing the "people's will".

ACHC is 80% owned by CPI, a Chinese state-owned dam giant which has been waging a vocal campaign to have the Myitsone dam project resumed.  A 15% stake in ACHC is owned by Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power.  Asia World, a firm controlled by the controversial tycoon Steven Law holds the remaining 5%.

It is unclear when the park will formally be established.  In an article posted on the FFI website in March of this year FFI indicated it is working with the Burmese government’s Forest Department to conduct field work that will “finalise the biological justification for the gazettement of a new National Park, known as Imawbum National Park, and are consulting local communities on boundary delineation.”

The park will be established in an area that has long been the fiefdom of the pro-government New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) and its colorful leader Zahkung Ting Ying (also spelled Za Khun Ting Ring).

According to FFI the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey is listed as Critically Endangered with an estimated 260 to 330 of the monkey's thought to be still living in the wild. In the FFI website article, Frank Momberg, the group's Burma Programme Director heralded recently recorded video footage showing this monkey. “The video footage is evidence to the continued presence of this threatened species and gives us a first glimpse into the social organisation of the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey,” he said.

“From this footage we are able to determine that they clearly live in large groups, unlike other leaf-eating monkeys that have been shown to live in smaller family units. This means their social organisation and behaviour is similar to other snub-nosed monkeys, which sets the entire genus apart from other leaf monkeys. It also means that larger groups require large home ranges and larger areas of contiguous forest need to be protected to ensure the survival of the species” Momberg added.

According to a lengthy article published earlier this year by the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post, FFI claims that the NDAK “is supportive of its conservation aims”. (Unfortunately the article's author Vincent MacIsaac incorrectly referred to the group as the non-existent “NDKA”).  Zahkung Ting Ying, who currently serves as a member of parliament, is not particularly known for his dedication to environmental protection.

Over the past 20 years Tin Ying is believed to have profited immensely from mining and logging concessions deals involving the Chinese business interests operating in NDA-K territory. Ting Ying's large wealth and his reluctance to share the spoils amongst his colleagues was reportedly the cause of long simmering tensions in the NDA-K and several unsuccessful but violent attempts to oust Ting Ying as the head of the group. This includes a December 2004 assassination attempt involving his car and a September 2005 full scale mutiny led by his deputy Layawk Zelum.

According to a report on Kachin state's destructive timber trade by the UK NGO Global Witness Ting Ying's difficulties with his NDA-K colleagues were exacerbated by arguments over the profits from the Htang Shanghkawng molybdenum mine, a mineral used in the production of steel alloys.

The NDA-K was the successor to a Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) unit led by Ting Ying's that broke-away from the KIO in 1968 to join forces with the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). In 1989 following the complete collapse of the (CPB), Ting Ying with the support of troops under his command created the NDA-K, quickly reaching a ceasefire with the central government.  The NDA-K's deal with Burma's military regime resulted in the establishment of Kachin state Special Region No. 1 and enabled the group to profit from the cross border timber trade at Kambaiti and Pangwa during a period that saw the vast clear cutting of forests in Kachin state. Much of the NDA-K territory remains bare of trees thanks to the massive level of timber cutting that took place on Ting Ying's watch.

In 2009 the NDA-K's standing army of about 1,000 troops was officially absorbed by the Border Guard Force (BGF) and placed in BGF battalions 1001, 1002 and 1003. EX NDA-K turned BGF forces frequently clashed with KIO troops in 2012 and early 2013. In 2012 Ting Ying publicly distributed weapons to his former forces who he appears to maintain a significant amount of influence over.

During the November 2010 election Ting Ying ran as independent candidate and was unopposed by any candidate from the military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).  The veteran rebel leader easily defeated his only other opponent from the National Unity Party (NUP), another military backed party affiliated with the remnants of the Ne Win regime.