Local people from Putao, Machanbaw, Nogmung staged a protest demonstration on September 28 over designating more areas in the World Heritage Khakaborazi National Park as it undermined their livelihood.
Rawang Literature and Culture Committee Putao Township Chairman M Yawshu said, “In designating the new areas of the world heritage national park, the restrictions imposed on local people barred them from entering the area so that they could not work. Our elders discussed this and then decided to stage a protest against the designation of additional areas to this heritage park.”
The people work in this area by cultivating shifting farmlands and finding traditional medicinal herbs for the livelihood of their families.
He also said that after the current Khakaborazi world heritage park was designated in 1998, about 73 households from Nogmung Township had to move to another place as they could not find their livelihood in their old villages and faced difficulties in their daily life.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued a notification on July 28 which says a total area of 942,080 acres in Putao, Machanbaw and Nogmung townships in Putao district, Kachin State have been designated while there would also be an area of 1,472 square miles added to the park.