CNI News

10 Nov 2022

Instabilities and tight stop and search operations in some areas in Mon State have posed difficulties for watching migratory birds, according to environmental conservation associations and bird watchers.

Moreover, due to higher costs and checkpoints, documenting migratory birds was impossible in some areas, Chairman Ko Thaung of Ahlat Environmental Conservation Association told the CNI.

He said, “We dare not go to some areas like Paung and Talkin. We can go to Kathe and Htanbinchaung but even travelling to Htanbinchaung by motorbike costs MMK 8,000 per person. As we have to spend our own money, we cannot go to document migratory birds. When we go to watch migratory birds, we need to bring binoculars. If authorities seize our binoculars because they suspect us of something, we will lose our binoculars. And checkpoints ask us questions over our trips and have banned riding a motorbike by two people.”

Mon State Defence Force. (MSDF)

Bird watchers from other states and regions including Yangon are planning to visit Mon State but the association had to tell them not to come to Mon State because of instabilities in the state.

The number of migratory birds to Mon State is still low at the beginning of the cold season. Bird watchers cannot go to mountains but it is possible for them to go to beaches, U Aung Kyaw, a bird watcher from Mon State, told the CNI.

Migratory birds in Paliek Lake in Singaing in Mandalay Region.

He told the CNI, “ It is possible for them to watch migratory birds at beaches like Kathe, Malarchaung, Shwetharhlaung and Dekhintan. If they want to go to upper areas by motorbike, it is difficult for them. There were some bird watchers in such areas. However, the number of birds which migrated to Mon State is not as many as last year because silt has not collected at beaches. There are only about 2,000 migratory birds in Mon State.”

Migratory birds start arriving in Myanmar in November but they usually migrate to Myanmar en masse in December and January.

However, negligent hunting of migratory birds in Myanmar has posed a threat to survival of over 50 species of endangered birds included in the red list such as spoonbills and cranes and emergency measures must be taken urgently.