Fauna & Flora International (FFI), a British environmental organization, has announced it will move forward with plans to establish a nature reserve in northern Kachin state to protect the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey discovered by FFI researchers in 2010.
In an article posted on the FFI website the group says it is working with the Burmese government’s forest department to conduct field work that will “finalize the biological justification for the gazettement of a new national park known as Imawbum, and are consulting local communities on boundary delineation”.
The park will be in an area that has long been the fiefdom of the pro-government New Democratic Army Kachin (NDAK) and 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 left in the wild. In the FFI website article, Frank Momberg, the group's Burma programme director, heralded the recently recorded video footage showing the rare species. “The video footage is evidence to the continued presence of this threatened species and gives us a first glimpse into the social organization 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 organization and behavior 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 said.
According to a lengthy article published last month in 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, 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 with Chinese business partners operating in NDAK territory. Ting Ying's large wealth and reluctance to share the spoils amongst colleagues was reportedly the cause of long simmering tensions in the NDAK leading to several unsuccessful violent attempts to oust Ting Ying as head of the group. This includes a December 2004 assassination attempt involving his car. In September 2005 a full scale mutiny was attempted by his deputy, Layawk Zalum.
According to a report on Kachin state's destructive timber trade by UK NGO Global Witness, Ting Ying's difficulties with his NDAK colleagues were exacerbated by arguments over the profits from the Htang Shanghkawng molybdenum mine used for the production of steel alloys.
The NDAK was the successor to a Kachin Independence Organization unit led by Ting Ying's that broke-away in 1968 to join forces with the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). In 1989 following the complete collapse of the CPB, Ting Ying, with support of troops still under his command, created the NDAK and quickly reached a ceasefire with the central government.
The NDAK's deal with Burma's military regime resulted in the establishment of Kachin state Special Region No. 1 enabling the group to profit from the cross border timber trade in Kambaiti and Pangwa resulting in massive deforestation in Kachin state. Much of the NDAK’s territory remains bare of trees due to the large scale logging that took place on Ting Ying's watch.
In 2009 the NDAK's standing army of about 1,000 troops was officially absorbed by the Border Guard Force (BGF) into battalions 1001, 1002 and 1003. These battalions frequently clashed with KIO troops in 2012 and early 2013. Ting Ying publicly distributed weapons to his former soldiers in 2012 that he still appears to maintain a significant amount of influence over.
During the November 2010 election, Ting Ying ran unopposed by any candidate from the military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). He easily defeated his only other opponent from the smaller National Unity Party (NUP), another military backed party affiliated with remnants from the former Ne Win regime.
