THE Htoo Foundation has launched a series of community development projects to conserve Myanmar’s natural forest and wildlife, as well as local customs, languages and dialects.

The foundation was originally created to provide emergency aid in the wake of cyclone Nargis. “Soon after the storm, we organised all companies under Htoo Trading and started donating to victims. Then we decided to keep on doing community development in other regions,” said the foundation’s project director, U Ye Min Oo.

The project will be carried out in Kachin, Kayah, Chin and Shan states, and Pyin Oo Lwin district in Mandalay Division.

“We have now commenced operations in Kachin, Shan and Pyin Oo Lwin,” he said, adding that operations would start in other regions within months.

U Ye Min Oo said the aim of the project was to conserve Myanmar’s natural forest and wildlife in the regions, to develop local ethnic communities in remote regions, encourage the languages and cultures of Myanmar ethnic groups, including minorities, and to help meet emergency needs in natural disasters.

“A primary school and a small hospital are under construction in Mulashidi village, in Kachin State’s Putao region, and are scheduled to be completed by June,” U Ye Min Oo said.

He said the Htoo Foundation was encouraging the wider use of local dialects. “We will persuade local communities to speak their own dialects,” U Ye Min Oo said.

The foundation would also encourage communities to wear traditional dress, he said. “We will try to persuade them to preserve their national identity by wearing national dress at least once a week, to speak their own dialects occasionally, and to work their traditional crafts,” he said.