A LOCAL environmental non-government organi-sation, the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA), marked its 10th anniversary on July 21 at a meeting at the International Business Centre on Pyay Road in Yangon.

The president of the association, U Sein Maung Wint, said at the meeting that economic prosperity and community development at the grassroots level were necessary for the organisation to carry out its aim of conserving the environment in Myanmar.

“Poor villagers who cut down trees for their own survival cannot be blamed but such behaviour hinders our conservation aims,” he said. “That’s why we need to use an integrated approach that focuses on helping businesses on the local level in as many ways as possible while also working directly to save the environment.”

He said the association has been working on both community development and conservation since 2000.

“Right now we are limited to working at the micro-level because we don’t have the resources to work at the national level,” he said. “As an NGO we are eager to do our work but we cannot do as much as we want without sufficient funding.”

The association’s secretary, U Ohn, said the organisation has also been working to develop more human resources for environmental conservation.

“We are encouraging students who are interested in conservation-related subjects to apply for scholarships to study abroad. We are also urging our members to take the tests necessary to study overseas, such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (Inter-national English Language Testing System),” he said.

FREDA, which was founded in 1997, has more than 400 members – including specialists in the conservation field – who are dedicated to conducting environmental conservation projects in cooperation with locals throughout Myanmar.