Information Sheet No.B-1190(I)

[OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx]

MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON

Information  Sheet
No.B-1190(I)             22th December 1999

(1) Minister for Foreign Affairs Leaves for China

    At the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs of
the People's Republic of China Mr. Tang Jiaxuan,
Minister for Foreign Affairs U Win Aung left Yangon by
air on 21 December  to pay a goodwill visit to the
People's Republic of China. 

(2) Workshop on Cross-Border Migration  and Reproductive Health  Study Held

    The Workshop on Cross-Border Migration and
Reproductive Health Study, co-sponsored by Population 
Department of  the Ministry  of Immigration and
Population  and UNFPA,  was held on 21 December at 
the department. Director-General of Population
Department  and Country Director of UNFPA Dr. Sheila 
Macrae gave  speeches. Afterwards, resource persons
presented papers, followed by a general round of
discussions. The workshop  ended  with concluding
remarks by Country Technical  Adviser of UNFPA Dr. RS
Sarma.

(3) Chinese Women's Delegation Visits Day-Care School
        
        The visiting Vice-President of All China
Women's Federation Mrs.Shen Shuji and goodwill
delegation visited the day-care school of Ministry of
Industry-2 Maternal and Child  Welfare Association in
Myanmar (MMCWA) on 21 December.  On 20 December the
guests went to Mandalay together with Chairperson of
MMCWA and met the members of Mandalay Division MMCWA
and  observed  activities of Mandalay Division MMCWA.


Special Feature

        This office is presenting an article entitled " Mount Hkaakabo  and 
Its Environs"  written by Dr. Sein Tu  which appeared in TODAY Magazine( 
Volume 7 December  1999) for your reading pleasure.


Mount Hkaakabo  and Its Environs

    Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia is often depicted as the
highest mountain in Southeast Asia, especially by
locally based promoters of ecotourism. Actually
Kinabalu, a mere 4,101 metres tall, is dwarfed by
Myanmar's Mount Hkakabo or Hkakaborazi, which towers
6,432 metres above sea level. 

    Furthermore Kinabalu is relatively easy to climb, as
attested by the many mountaineering  teams that have
successfully scaled  its heights, whereas Hkakaborazi
was conquered only as recently as September 15 1996 by
Takeshi Ozaki of Japan and Nama  Johnson of Myanmar.
For the matter Kinabalu is not  even the second
tallest mountain in Southeast Asia, that honour
rightfully belonging to Indonesia's Mount Puncak Jaya,
which  stands a little over 5,000 metres high. Mount
Hkakabo is located in Naung Mon Township  in Putao
District of the Kachin State. It is situated in the
extreme North of Myanmar and is perennially
snow-capped, being part of the Eastern Himalayan
Region.  Hkakaborazi lies in the Hkakaborazi Protected
Area which covers 3,812 square kilometers and the head
waters of the great Ayeyarwady River, Myanmar's main
artery for commerce and navigation, are to be found here. 

    Communications are difficult in the Hakaborazi
forests  and on its mountain slopes. Streams have to
be crossed on precarious rattan bridges slung across
the gorges sometimes hundreds of feet above the
rushing torrents and rocky streambeds. For the most
part,  journeys are made on foot along footpaths that
hug the mountain sides and wind through dense jungle 
 undergrowth. Even few miles you may come across small
encampments of road maintenance workers where you may
take  shelter for the night without any payment other
than for firewood.
 
    The Kachin tribe inhabiting the Hkakaborazi area are
of Tibeto-Myanmar stock and number some 948
induviduals living in 11 villages. They are of Rawan, 
Lisu and Tibetan extraction, and include  the last
remaining members of the Tarong tribe, and endangered
race of diminutive people none of whom are more than 4
feet in height. The people in this area practice 
shifting cultivation of paddy, wheat, beans,  maize,
millet, mustard and yams, and any extra produce is
taken, together with medicinal herbs and tubers
foraged for in the jungle, to market in the  Dstrict
Headquarters town of Putao.  Trade in pelts, antlers,
bones and other parts of wild animals flourishes
across the Myanmar-China border and this ready  market
is freely  availed of by local hunters in disposing of their trophies.

    The survey undertaken by this biological expedition
clearly points up the richness of the region's  flora
and fauna and its unique eco-system that has remained
largely undefiled by the hand of man. To take just a
few examples; the tree rhododenaron is indigenous to
this mountain area, and of the 600 known species of
rhododendria, 118 were collected  here by the English
botanist Farrer in 1919-20 and specimens were sent to
the Toyal Botanical  Gardens in Edinburgh, UK, where
107 of these may be still viewed. Wild orchids also
bloom in great profusion on Hkakaborazi, including
the'' Slipper Orchid'', so named by the English
botanist F. Kingdon-Ward in 1920 because of its
general resemblance to Dutch wooden slippers or clogs.
    Nineteen  species of pine were also identified by
botanists with the expedition, among  these species
being the striking '' Bule Pine'' (pirus wallichiana)
    One hundred and thirty four avian species were also
recorded, among them being two on the endangered list,
viz, the Impeyan pheasant ( lopbophorous impejanus)
and the Blood pheasant (Ithaginis cruentis). Fifteen
rare species of pheasant were also observed, 
including the chestnut thrush and the Red-tailed
laughing thrush, specimens of which were  plentifully encountered.

    The Hkakaborazi region  is the home of the rare
''blue sheep'' (pseudois sp), the Red Goral 
(Naemorbaedus cranbrooki),  the Takin (Budorcas
taxicolor), the serow (  Capricornis sumatrensis) and
the Black Barking Deer ( Muntiacus crinifrons).  The
presence of crinifroms in the scientific literature,
but this  species was found to be thriving in the icy
mountains of the Hkakaborazi reserve.  In fact, the
Black Barking Deer skins acquired by the expedition
during the relatively short collection period far
outnumber the specimens owned by museums throughout
the world.  The remoteness  and inaccessibility of the
region has helped to maintain the pristine purity of
its forests and eco-systems. The richness of its 
biodiversity deserves to be maintained and fostered in
the interests of coming generations  and presents
unparalleled  opportunities to present-day
professionals in the fields of zoology, botany,
forestry, environmental protection and conservation
and  ecology, as well as hardy eco-tourists and
mountaineers who prefer the challenge of a testing
back-packing trip in the mountain fastnesses of
Myanmar to a tour of routine tourist attractions in
the more accessible urban centres. 

    To the credit of the State Peace and Development
Council the Hkakaborazi region  was designated  a
Protected Area on January 30, 1996.  Indeed this area
meets all the criteria to be upgraded to the status of
a National Park. And, in order that the unique
qualities and  biodiversity of the Hkakaborozi
ecosystem be maintained intact in all its unspoilt
natural beauty  not only for the sake of future
generations of Myanmars, but also for the benefit of
all mankind, strenuous and unremitting efforts should
be directed towards giving it international
recognition as a World Heritage Site.