Community Guardians to support Community Forestry

Back to the Map

Community Guardians to support Community Forestry

Empowering local communities to promote forest and wildlife conservation

Forestry

Wildlife Conservation

Background

In south Rakhine, wildlife is threatened by habitat loss. One of the main challenges is how to conserve the forest and its wildlife while considering the people living in its surroundings. Community Forest (CF) is one of the solutions, and can be used as a buffer zone between villages and protected areas.

The project

Started in 2010, this program promotes wildlife conservation by empowering local communities to preserve the forests. The distinctiveness of this initiative lies in the creation of Community Guardian Groups (CGG), appointed to patrol the CF. CGG are equipped with GPS, smartphones, and cameras, and are compensated for the services offered to the community by means of a small revolving fund. They report illegal activities directly to project staff, the Forest Department, or the police. A total of ten CGGs were created in ten villages surrounding the Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range Wildlife Reserve. Together they look after about 1000 hectares of forest. Since CGGs have been patrolling, less illegal activity has been reported in these areas.

About the organization

Founded in Italy in 1996, Istituto Oikos focuses on biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of natural resources across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Oikos started working in Myanmar in 2007.

Community forestry not only benefits the communities, but can also be a tool for wildlife conservation. This was the case here, where the establishment of the community forest was part of a larger project called the Sun Bear Project, focusing on the conservation of sun bears – a vulnerable species – in Myanmar.

Photo : Free the Bears

The Community Guardian Groups use Viber to communicate their findings to the Forest Department and the police as well as to coordinate their patrolling operations. All the groups and the local authorities are connected through chat groups where photos, GPS locations, and patrolling calendars are shared.

Photo : Lorenzo Gaffi

Over 100,000 indigenous trees have been planted inside the Community Forests as part of reforestation operations. Some rare wildlife, including bears, cat species, and deer, have reappeared in the forest since the environmental restoration process was initiated.

Photo : Chiara Luxardo