The environmental history of Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area in Myanmar (Burma)

We reconstructed the history of Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to understand how social and economic events, and policy changes affected the sanctuary's condition. We surveyed 25 villages surrounding CWS to evaluate past and present ecological conditions, compare the results with historical accounts and identify causal relationships. During the first half of the 20th century, the primary threat was the government's reduction of old growth forest to supply fuel wood for the British-built railway. The railroad opened the area to colonization, but the villagers' impact on timber and wildlife was low. From 1945 to 1988, villagers became the primary force of landscape degradation. The post-war windfall of firearms increased hunting pressure, and populations of large mammal started to decline. With the economic decline of the 1970s and 1980s, the community's demand for game and forest products intensified, and the large mammal fauna was reduced from eleven to four species. From 1988-2003, the forests surrounding the sanctuary were fragmented and degraded. The absence of large predators rendered the park safe for livestock, and the combined effects of grazing and removal of forest products seriously degraded habitat within CWS. Major threats to CWS during the past two decades have resulted from land use decisions in which government-planned economic enterprises caused encroachment by villagers. Stabilization and recovery of this sanctuary will require management compatible with human needs, including expanded buffer zones, better core area protection, community forestry projects, and probably relocation of villages within the park.