ThaiNGO

Background

The Dawna Tenasserim, straddling the Myanmar-Thailand border, has some of the largest remaining areas of contiguous tropical moist and deciduous forests in Southeast Asia. Over 83% of the landscape is still forested and it harbors exceptional biodiversity and globally important populations of tigers, Asian elephants, and a myriad of other species. Embedded within the Dawna Tenasserim is the Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM) in Thailand, which includes 19 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. In addition, the Dawna Tenasserim also includes other protected areas in Thailand as well as critical conservation areas in Myanmar.

The 179,896 km2 Dawna Tenasserim is almost as large as the entire country of Cambodia and is recognized within WWF as one of five priority landscapes worldwide. This underlines the global importance of the landscape and the urgency to conserve it. To find such a vast, intact ecosystem within Southeast Asia is rare. The Dawna Tenasserim is not only important for protecting biodiversity but also multiple ecosystem services that support both natural and human communities. Poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, particularly across borders, is one of the greatest threats to wildlife in the Dawna Tenasserim. However, to date, understanding and assessment of the nature, scale and routes of illegal wildlife trafficking in the Dawna Tenasserim remain poorly developed. This consultancy aims to capture basic IWT data for a key cross border site within the landscape. 

Goal

Identify the extent and nature of the trade in key species in the southern western forest complex and

areas along the Myanmar-Thai border.

Key Research questions to be answered

a) What key wildlife products are traded?

b) Where are they being sourced from?

c) What parts are being taken?

d) Who are catching/ killing target species and/ or where they are coming from

e) Harvesters/Intermediaries/Consumers

f) What transport methods and routes used (logistics)?

g) What modalities of sale (online, in markets, direct sales to known buyers)

h) Who is buying - consumer profiles

i) What are the key opportunities/facilitators criminals use to move product and; (i.e.:

what are the weaknesses in the LE system)

j) what are potential intervention options to address these weaknesses.

Key Output

The final output will be a report on the primary modes of Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) in the southern western forest complex (sWEFCOM), with particular focus on the Ban Phu Nam Ron – Htee Khee border crossing with Myanmar. This will include profiles and motivations of actors involved, methods of product processing and concealment, types of infrastructure and facilities used.

The thematic scope will extend to identifying wildlife products, actor profiles and trade networks within

Southern WEFCOM.

Methods: Will include open source information, interview information from key stakeholders such as local communities, government representatives and business owners, observations and triangulation of data sources. Information sources will also be assessed for reliability.

The draft report will be submitted by 30 November 2020.