A new conservation park called the Thawthi Taw Oo Indigenous Park was established from Dec. 10-12 by the Karen National Union (KNU), local communities, and civil society organizations, along the Sittaung River on 1.4 million acres (5,754 square km) in Toungoo (Taw Oo) district of Karen State, which is an area under the control of the KNU. Its stated aim is to ensure that land resource rights are under the control of indigenous communities.
“The Thawthi Taw Oo Indigenous Park recognises and supports indigenous peoples’ centuries-old stewardship of the forests, and globally important contributions towards climate change mitigation. The resilience of TTIP communities, and leadership of the KNU, are examples of grass-roots and ‘bottom-up’ self-determination, and sovereignty. This wonderful occasion is particularly welcome amid the horrors of war, with regular Myanmar Army airstrikes against Karen and other civilian populations,” said Ashley South, an independent researcher, writer and the author of Conflict, Complexity and Climate Change: Emergent federal systems and resilience in post-coup Myanmar
The award-winning Salween Peace Park was established in 2018 to conserve 1.4 million acres (5,485 square km) in Hpapun (Mutraw) district of Karen State. The Thawthi Taw Oo Indigenous Park is located in the Indo-Burma Global Biodiversity Hotspot and the Dawna Tenasserim Landscape of eastern Myanmar, which is the forests that span the Myanmar-Thailand border region.
