Gaur	Red Panda

THE richness of Myanmar’s natural environment and biodiversity far surpasses those of other countries in the region, whose rapid economic growth and development have already denuded a great deal of their forests and environmental heritage. Myanmar’s forest cover constitutes roughly 50 per cent of her total area.

The Forest Department has set aside 38 sites as National Parks or Wildlife Sanctuaries. It has also formulated the Forest Policy which calls for increasing Reserved and Protected Public Forests to 30pc and the areas under the Protected Area System from the present 4.7pc to a long term goal of 10pc.

Furthermore, Myanmar is liberally endowed with natural environmental resources. From the snow-capped mountains of the Hkakabo Razi region of northernmost Myanmar where freezing temperatures persist all year round, to the southern coastal equatorial regions of Mon State and Tanintharyi Division that end at Cape Bayint Naung at the extreme southern tip of Myanmar territory; from the temperate grasslands of the Shan Plateau in the east, across the semi-desert conditions of the dry zone of central Myanmar, to the deep blue waters of the Bay of Bengal in the west, Myanmar is blessed with a whole range of ecological and environmental conditions to appeal to the tastes and preferences of the most discriminating ecotourist.

To illustrate Myanmar’s richness in its biodiversity the following examples may be cited:
Butterflies: There are altogether 10 families and 17,500 species of butterflies in the world today. Representatives of 9 of those families and some 1,004 species are to be found in Myan-mar, including seven on the World’s Rare Species List.

The Shwe-thamin, or Golden Deer: (Cervus eldi thamin) is a unique species of deer that is found today only in Myan-mar. The only other representatives of this deer, the Manipur sub-species (Cevvus eldi eldi M.’Clelland, 1842) and the Thai sub-species (Cervus eldi eldi siamensis) have been extinct for over a century.

Avifauna: Wild bird species found in Myanmar at Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State, Inle Wetland Bird Sanctuary in Nyaungshwe Township, Shan State, and Moeyungyi Wetland Bird Sanctuary, Bago Division are completely protected under the Myanmar Wildlife Act of 1994. These include the Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) which is on the World’s Endangered Species List, as well as many species of migratory birds such as the Purple Swamp Hen (Porphyrio povphyrio), the Black Hinged Stilt S. Himan-topus and the Asian Open Bill Stork (Anastomus oscitans) that fly annually south along the Australian Flyway to escape the intense cold of the northern hemisphere in winter.

Mammals: Myanmar is also rich in it mammalian biological heritage. The snowy mountains of Hkakabo Razi National Park and nearby wildlife sanctuaries are home to the Red Panda (Ailurus Fulgens), the Blue Sheep (Pseudos nayaur) and the Black Barking Deer (Muntiacus crinifons), which had been previously regarded as surviving in the world only in four provinces of China.

In 1997 an entirely new species of Muntjac, or barking deer, was discovered near Putao in Kachin State. Known locally as the phet gyi or Leaf Deer because it is so small that it can be wrapped up in a large leaf, it has been given the scientific designation of Muntiacus muntjac putaoensis. The takin or goat antelope (Budorcas taxicolor) is also found in Myanmar’s extreme north, as are the Red Goral (Nemorhaedus balleyi), and the Serow (Neinorhaedus sijmatrensis).

Orchids: Of the nine species of orchids on the World’s Endangered Species List, five are from Myanmar. The Black Orchid is unique to Myanmar and is found only in the Kachin State.

Turtles and Tortoises: 32 species of turtles and tortoises have been identified in Myanmar. Of these, six were found to be endemic to Myanmar only: the Myanmar Star Tortoise (Geochelone platynota), the Rakhine Forest Turtle (Heosmys depressa); the Myanmar Toot Turtle (Kachuga trivitta); the Myanmar Eyed Turtle (Morenia ocellata); the Myanmar Flap Shell Turtle (Lissmys scutata); and the Myanmar Peacock Soft Shell Turtle (Nilssonia formosa).

There are roughly 260 species of tortoises and turtles in the world today. Myanmar, with its variety of ecosystems and its high level of turtle diversity and endemism is, according to Dr Thorbjarnarson of the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York, “by far the most outstanding country in Southeast Asia with at least 32 species (as many as in all of China).

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has arranged ecotourist safaris for those who are interested in taking mountain and forest hikes, viewing flowers and orchids growing in the wild, bird watching, searching for exotic species of butterflies, and as an ancillary pursuit, studying at first hand the culture, habits, traditions and beliefs of the more than 100 different groups living in the country.