WITH unseasonable downpours constantly sending his bird research team scrambling for shelter or forcing them to spend time packing their survey equipment into waterproof bags, U Thet Zaw Naing did not expect to make many new discoveries in the dense forests of southern Tanintharyi Division.

It is therefore not surprising that the ornithologist was thrilled that among the more than 200 bird species spotted during an eight-day trip to the forest last month were two species previously undocumented in Myanmar.

“We didn’t expect it at all,” said U Thet Zaw Naing, secretary of the Myanmar Bird and Nature Society. “Despite the bad weather, what we recorded was pretty high in terms of both species and population.”

Of the two new species, the yellow-wattled lapwing had previously been sighted only in Malaysia in the Southeast Asia region. The other newbie was the brown fulvetta.

The October 14 to 21 trip followed an excursion in September to Alaungdaw Kathapha National Park in Sagaing Division arranged jointly by the society and three foreign bird experts.

Mr Martjan Lammertark, a Dutch bird expert who joined last month’s trip, told The Myanmar Times prior to his departure for Tanintharyi Division that the area was particularly interesting because it was a complex zone where the ranges of many bird species – including those from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia – overlapped.

“So you get an exceptionally high diversity of bird species,” he said. “Nowhere on earth can so many bird species be found in a tropical forest as in southern Tanintharyi.”

Despite this great diversity, and despite the fact that it is the only place where the nearly extinct Gurney’s pitta species can be found, the area is under siege by development that threatens the health of the local environment.

Mr Lammertark said the main threat was from a project to replace the indigenous forests in the area with palm tree plantations to boost the country’s production of edible oil.

While environmentalists acknowledge that such projects are vital to boost the development of the country, they say that such growth should be approached in a balanced, sustainable manner that does not irreparably destroy the environment.

“This kind of valuable forest can be found nowhere else except Tanintharyi, so we should preserve it instead of destroying part of our national heritage,” said U Thet Zaw Naing.

He said the forests in the three areas of Kawthoung district where last month’s survey took place were still in very good condition, characterised by dense forests with many big trees that provide ideal habitat for a wide range of bird species.

Without additional protection, the endangered Gurney’s pitta species is expected to go extinct within 10 years, U Thet Zaw Naing said, adding that although the bird is also found in Thailand forests contiguous with Tanintharyi Division, the habitat in Thailand is even more severely degraded than in Myanmar.

“While planting oil palms is important for the economy, we also need to create reserves to protect some of the remaining forestland instead of clearing it all,” he said. “Such areas also have economic value as ecotourism sites that attract tourists for their rich diversity of flora and fauna species.”

U Thein Aung, assistant director of Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division of the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Forestry, said that areas like the forests of Tanintharyi Division constitute irreplaceable ecosystems uniquely suited to supporting specific plant and animal species that would be unable to survive elsewhere.

“Oil palms can be planted in many areas other than Tanintharyi Division, but the local forests and their animal inhabitants can’t just move somewhere else,” he said. “Endangered animals that live in the forest will simply disappear if the trees are cleared.”