new report on bamboo rat crisis in burma
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Edith Mirante
Jul 30, 2008, 2:19:12 PM7/30/08
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New Resource Report on Bamboo Rat Crisis in Burma
July 30, 2008
Project Maje has produced a new resource report, "Rats and Kyats: Bamboo Flowering Causes a Hunger Belt in Chin State, Burma."
The bamboo species Melocanna baccifera blossoms approximately every 48 years. This type of bamboo grows throughout a large area of Northeast India (primarily in Mizoram and Manipur States) as well as regions of Burma (mainly Chin State) and Bangladesh (Hill Tracts.) It densely covers valleys and hillsides in the rugged terrain of the region. The blossoming bamboo produces fruit, then dies off. During the fruiting stage of the cycle, forest rats feed on the bamboo fruits/seeds. Once the population of rats has stripped the forest of bamboo fruit/seeds, rat swarms invade farms and villages to devour crops and stored rice. This phenomenon, known as the Mautam, has historically resulted in mass starvation among indigenous peoples of the region where Melocanna baccifera bamboo grows. While the current Mautam bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Northeast India has been covered by journalists, and food aid is being provided there and in the Bangladesh Hill Tracts, the Mautam crisis across the borders in Burma is less well known. In Burma's Chin State, local groups are attempting to provide aid, but there is not yet a large scale organized relief effort in the Mautam affected areas.
The Project Maje resource report, "Rats and Kyats" is intended for journalists, aid workers and other researchers who may become interested in the bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Burma. News stories and documents are reproduced or linked in it, and there is also a links list of background information on the bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Mizoram, Manipur and Bangladesh.
Project Maje is an independent information project on Burma’s human rights and environmental issues, founded in 1986.
"Rats and Kyats: Bamboo Flowering Causes a Hunger Belt in Chin State, Burma" is available at:
http://www.projectmaje.org/mautam.htm
===
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Burma exiles Athein and Zaw Min Htwe are walking across the USA from Portland, Oregon to New York with a petition for the UN. They have marched through snowstorms in the mountains and will be in New York on 8/8/08. Read about their journey and SIGN THE PETITION at:
http://88portland.wordpress.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DONATIONS for Burma Cyclone Nargis disaster relief can be made via Global Health Access Program, funding indigenous emergency teams currently providing aid:
http://www.ghap.org/how_to_help/cyclone/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"DOWN THE RAT HOLE: Adventures Underground on Burma's Frontiers"
is the latest book by Edith Mirante (author of "Burmese Looking Glass")
published by Orchid Press:
<http://d30021575.purehost.com/indiv_titles.html#rathole>
Available at Powells.com:
<http://www.powells.com/s?kw=down+the+rat+hole>
It can also be requested from your local bookshop or ordered at:
<www.amazon.com>
July 30, 2008
Project Maje has produced a new resource report, "Rats and Kyats: Bamboo Flowering Causes a Hunger Belt in Chin State, Burma."
The bamboo species Melocanna baccifera blossoms approximately every 48 years. This type of bamboo grows throughout a large area of Northeast India (primarily in Mizoram and Manipur States) as well as regions of Burma (mainly Chin State) and Bangladesh (Hill Tracts.) It densely covers valleys and hillsides in the rugged terrain of the region. The blossoming bamboo produces fruit, then dies off. During the fruiting stage of the cycle, forest rats feed on the bamboo fruits/seeds. Once the population of rats has stripped the forest of bamboo fruit/seeds, rat swarms invade farms and villages to devour crops and stored rice. This phenomenon, known as the Mautam, has historically resulted in mass starvation among indigenous peoples of the region where Melocanna baccifera bamboo grows. While the current Mautam bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Northeast India has been covered by journalists, and food aid is being provided there and in the Bangladesh Hill Tracts, the Mautam crisis across the borders in Burma is less well known. In Burma's Chin State, local groups are attempting to provide aid, but there is not yet a large scale organized relief effort in the Mautam affected areas.
The Project Maje resource report, "Rats and Kyats" is intended for journalists, aid workers and other researchers who may become interested in the bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Burma. News stories and documents are reproduced or linked in it, and there is also a links list of background information on the bamboo/rat cycle as it affects Mizoram, Manipur and Bangladesh.
Project Maje is an independent information project on Burma’s human rights and environmental issues, founded in 1986.
"Rats and Kyats: Bamboo Flowering Causes a Hunger Belt in Chin State, Burma" is available at:
http://www.projectmaje.org/mautam.htm
===
========================================================
Burma exiles Athein and Zaw Min Htwe are walking across the USA from Portland, Oregon to New York with a petition for the UN. They have marched through snowstorms in the mountains and will be in New York on 8/8/08. Read about their journey and SIGN THE PETITION at:
http://88portland.wordpress.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DONATIONS for Burma Cyclone Nargis disaster relief can be made via Global Health Access Program, funding indigenous emergency teams currently providing aid:
http://www.ghap.org/how_to_help/cyclone/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"DOWN THE RAT HOLE: Adventures Underground on Burma's Frontiers"
is the latest book by Edith Mirante (author of "Burmese Looking Glass")
published by Orchid Press:
<http://d30021575.purehost.com/indiv_titles.html#rathole>
Available at Powells.com:
<http://www.powells.com/s?kw=down+the+rat+hole>
It can also be requested from your local bookshop or ordered at:
<www.amazon.com>
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