For Tee La Shwe, 62, the forest is more than a source of life, it’s a place of memory, spirit, and belonging. As a community adviser and member of the biodiversity research team in the Kheshorter Community Forest, a sanctuary for the Karen indigenous people living in the Salween River basin in Southeast Myanmar, he has dedicated decades to defending both the land and the traditions rooted within it. Despite ongoing armed conflict and the challenges of displacement, Tee La Shwe remains committed to passing on his ancestral knowledge of native plants, cultural beliefs, and sacred places to younger generations.
What has climate change done here?
Recent years have brought irregular rainfall, heavier floods, landslides, and worse pest attacks on our rice fields, making life harder. This year, we harvested only 50 packs of rice, down from 100 last year. The junta’s nearby military base fires mortars into our villages, forcing people to stay away from their fields. Their food transport road also cuts through our livelihood areas, making it even harder to work.
I don’t know if climate change is the only cause. As Indigenous people, we’ve struggled to keep our beliefs and taboos, partly because the junta’s presence has made us flee so often. In hiding, some have had to break taboos, eating forbidden animals just to survive.
Maybe this is natural, maybe not. Still, I believe in our traditions and will keep trying to uphold them, hoping that respecting them will help protect us.
What do you think world leaders have to do now to stop things from getting worse and to help us adapt?
I ask the international community to pressure Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to withdraw troops from our area. We urgently need support to face the climate crisis, both climate training and, most urgently, food aid for our communities. The whole Mutraw District faces food insecurity, with some areas worse than ours. Our leaders are overwhelmed and can’t solve this alone. International support is our only hope. Please share our message, we urgently need help and cannot face this crisis by ourselves.
Life expectancy 2023
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