Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) is a Burmese non-governmental organisation established in the capital city Yangon. The society aims to conserve natural diversity and promote awareness. It remains the leading force in Burma for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.[1]

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association
Founded2004
TypeSociety charity
FocusConservation, Biodiversity, Sustainable development
Location
Area served
Burma
MethodResearch
Environmental protection
Environmental education
Chairman
U Saw Tun Khaing
Websitebanca-env.org

U Uga is the founder and the first chairman of BANCA. He is one of the foresters in Myanmar.[2]

Mission and objectives

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association Living attempts to harmonise nature with its need for human in a sustainable fashion, and to restore and maintain a healthy planet. The basic goals include conservation of nature, primarily biological diversity (genes, species, ecosystems) through actions based on surveys and research, partnership, network building, environmental education and public awareness, encouragement of stakeholder concept and improvement of rural livelihoods. To achieve the goals BANCA recruits members from various research fields including ornithologists, primatologists, botanists, marine biologists, herpetologists, medical doctors, and academicians.[1]

Collaborations

BANCA has a long-term collaboration with international organisations such as BirdLife International, Ecoswiss, People Resources and Conservation Foundation and Fauna & Flora International; and also with major local organisations including Marine Science Association Myanmar (MSAM) and Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association (RCA). It has been in close partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of UK, with which it has completed 3 conservation projects, and 1 on-going (2012-2015).[3]

Myanmar Environmental Project

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious and an environmental NGO in Myanmar. Although BANCA was officially recognized by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Union of Myanmar on 18 June 2004, BANCA has been active since 2002. BANCA's registered charity number is 1883. BANCA strongly believes that conservation programs can be accomplished successfully only if it is backed up with community development. BANCA has 9 Board of Directors and 11 Executive Committee members. The latter is headed by a Chairperson. The backbone of BANCA is its competent ornithologists along with botanists, foresters, zoologists, social scientists, mammalogists, geologists, environmental scientists, marine biologists and herpetologists among others. Since its establishment in 2004, BANCA has been in close collaboration with international organizations like BirdLife International Indo-China Program, BirdLife International Asia Program (BLI), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK (RSPB), Care Myanmar, Instuito Oikos (Italy), Flora and Fauna International (FFI), Arcona Cambridge, BBC Wildlife Funds, Darwin Initiative, Wildfowl Wetland Trust (WWT), World Wildlife Funds (WWF), Tropical Rainforest Foundation (TRP), Green Lotus, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and People Resource and Conservation Foundation (PRCF). BANCA also worked with Government Ministries like the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF), Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development (MLFRD), Myanmar. BANCA is also looking forward to seeing more close collaboration with other international scientific organizations and local environmental NGOs

Bird conservation

BANCA has been in partnership with the BirdLife International in implementing the project called "Building Constituencies for Site Based Conservation in Myanmar", which aims at identifying networks of important bird areas in the Eastern Himalayas Endemic Bird Area and the Sundaic Lowlands Secondary Area. In addition the project aims to promote community-based approaches to the conservation of selected sites.[1]

Achievements

Publications

In 2004 BANCA published an ornithology monograph Birds of Myanmar written by Kyaw Nyunt Lwin and Khin Ma Ma Thwin.

Environmental impact assessment

In 2009 BANCA carried out biodiversity impact assessments for Htamanthi hydropower and multipurpose dam project and Myitsone hydropower project.[4][5][6]

Discovery of new monkey species
Main article: Myanmar snub-nosed monkey

The unusual snub-nosed monkey found in the Maw River area of northeastern Kachin state in northern Burma was studied in 2010 by a research team led by Swiss primatologist Thomas Geissman and Ngwe Lwin of BANCA. The monkey was identified in 2012 as a new species Rhinopithecus strykeri. The monkey is a critically threatened species.[7] It is known in local dialects of Lisu people as mey nwoah and Law Waw people as myuk na tok te, both of which mean "monkey with an upturned face". It is for this special facial structure that it is known to sneeze when it rains, which earns it a more popular epithet "the sneezing monkey".[8] The discovery was heralded as one of the Top 10 New Species 2012 by the International Institute for Species Exploration.[9] In 2012 it was also listed at no 9 of the Top 10 weirdest new species by the Chinese news portal, China.org.cn.[10] The team leader Ngwe Lwin and chairman Tony Htin Hla were also involved in the establishment of the phylogenetic relationship of the new monkey with other Asian monkeys.[11]

References
  1. BANCA (2010). "Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA)". banca-env.org. BANCA. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  2. Sunbird (December 2012). "Dr Tony Htin Hla". sunbirdtours.co.uk. Sunbird. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  3. Defra (12 October 2012). "Partner organisation: Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA)". Defra. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  4. BANCA (October 2009). "Environmental Impact Assessment (Special Investigation) on Hydropower Development of Ayeyawady River Basin above Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar" (PDF). burmalibrary.org. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  5. Mizzima News (26 October 2011). "Myitsone Dam study should be made public: Dr. Htin Hla". mizzima.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  6. Burma Rivers Network (14 July 2011). "Analysis of Environmental Impact Study on Hydropower Development of Irrawaddy River". burmapartnership.org. Burma Partnership. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  7. Geissmann T, Lwin N, Aung SS, Aung TN, Aung ZM, Hla TH, Grindley M, Momberg F (2012). "A new species of snub-nosed monkey, genus Rhinopithecus Milne-Edwards, 1872 (Primates, Colobinae), from northern Kachin state, northeastern Myanmar". Am J Primatol. 73 (1): 96–107. doi:10.1002/ajp.20894. PMID 20981682.
  8. Wheeler Q (18 December 2011). "New to Nature No 61: Rhinopithecus strykeri". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  9. Murray R (23 May 2012). "Top 10 New Species list includes sneezing monkey, blue tarantula and night-blooming orchid". Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  10. Lin X (15 August 2012). "Top 10 weirdest new species: #9 Myanmar snub-nosed monkey". China.org.cn. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  11. Liedigk R, Yang M, Jablonski NG, Momberg F, Geissmann T, Lwin N, Hla TH, Liu Z, Wong B, Ming L, Yongcheng L, Zhang YP, Nadler T, Zinner D, Roos C (2012). "Evolutionary history of the odd-nosed monkeys and the phylogenetic position of the newly described Myanmar snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus strykeri". PLoS ONE. 7 (5): e37418. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037418. PMC 3353941. PMID 22616004.
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