Myanmar - Natma Taung National Park

Natma Taung National Park (NTNP; also known as Nat Ma Taung or Natmataung) is located in Chin State in western Myanmar. The park covers 72,300 hectares of the Chin Hills and contains Mt. Natma Taung, which rises 2,200 m above the surrounding landscape to a height of 3,051 m (Platt et al. 2012). NTNP ranges in elevation from 740 m to 3,051 m. NTNP was established in 1994 primarily to protect the upper watersheds of the Lemro and Myittha Rivers. Dipterocarp, pine, oak, and oak-rhododendron forests are found across the elevation gradient. NTNP is an alpine “sky island” containing a Holarctic floral species assemblage. Chin villages can be found below 2,500 m with the most populated area, Kanpetlet at 1,390 m. The Chin are a Tibeto-Burman group and comprise about 1% of Myanmar’s population. The Chin are comprised of multiple sub-groups with distinct identities. There are 6,000 Chin people living around NTNP and about 100 inside the park. They depend on shifting cultivation, NTFP collection, and hunting (Aung 2012).