Taboos, rangers, a peace park

At Mu Aye Pu

December 2017 correspondence shows KNDO rangers under Nerdah Mya working on wildlife around the village, and KESAN/KWCI supporting KNU Forestry Department Wildlife Protection Units in four districts. Paul Sein Twa insisted any joining of those mandates be agreed first, to avoid conflict of interest.1

Salween Peace Park — Hkolo Tamutaku K’rer

Declared 19 December 2018 after a referendum among about 67,800 voting-age residents of Mutraw District. 5,485 square kilometres. Three pillars: peace and self-determination; environmental integrity; cultural survival. Governance is decentralised around 248 kaw.4

It is not the MAPDC concession. The similar-looking numbers (5,000 hectares versus 5,485 square kilometres) are unrelated. Mu Aye Pu is a Moei-side village; the park is a Mutraw / Salween landscape. They share a people and a war.

The park has been under attack since the 2021 coup, including airstrikes reported in March 2021.4

Paul Sein Twa and unnamed villagers of 348 settlements are the proper names for that story.