Poultry farmer riles Sittwe Twsp villagers after taking axe to protective mangrove forest

By DMG 10 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
10 August 2022, Sittwe  

Residents of Kyaytaw village, Sittwe Township, are seething after a poultry farmer cut down dozens of acres of mature mangroves that were planted to protect the coastal area against natural disasters. 

The mangroves were planted more than 10 years ago by residents of Shwepyitha, Kyaytaw Ywama and Kyaytaw Paikseik villages, and out of more than 100 acres of mangroves, about 50 acres have reportedly been cut down. 

The villagers discovered that the mangrove forest had been cut down on July 27, said U Hla Tun, a local resident. 

“The residents of Kyaytaw village no longer faced the waves of the sea, and fish and shrimp became more self-sufficient than before after the mangroves were planted,” he said. “The locals are really sad that the mangroves were cut down. We had to work hard to cultivate the mangrove forest.” 

Local villagers said the mangroves were cut down by workers hired by the owner of a local poultry farm. 

“My poultry farm doesn’t need the mangrove forest,” U Thein Wai, the poultry farm owner, told DMG.  

“In the past 20 days, 360 chickens died in one day due to the intense heat,” he added. “I told the workers to cut down the mangroves a bit to allow air into the poultry farm. I have no intention of destroying the mangrove forest. The poultry farm also needs to be able to withstand wind and waves. I didn’t seek permission from the village administrator to cut down the mangroves.” 

U Win Tha, the administrator of Kyaytaw village, said he too was saddened by the destruction of the mangroves. 

“These mangrove forests are important because they protect against the waves,” U Win Tha said. “He [the poultry farm owner] doesn’t know that mangroves are planted to protect the village from natural disasters. The owner of the farm came and told me that the mangroves had to be cut down a bit to make the poultry farm ventilated. I want the poultry farm owner to replant the mangroves.” 

Wave-induced erosion of village lands, which even threatened some houses in Kyaytaw, prompted the effort to plant the mangrove forest, which was done by locals with the help of some foreign organisations in 2008.