Historic elephant protection initiative launched in Myanmar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“We must take aggressive protective action because extensive deforestation in Myanmar due to logging has resulted in the reduction of elephants’ natural habitat," says Project Founder

Arlington, VA, March 11, 2019 – The Elephant Project, a leader in innovative wildlife protection strategies, announced today that it has entered into a formal agreement with the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to relocate elephants from high human-elephant conflict areas to safe zones around the country. Human-elephant conflict is one of the biggest contributors to elephant deaths around the world.
 
U Win Naing Thaw, Director of the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division, Forest Department Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation of The Republic of the Union of Myanmar stated upon the signing of the agreement, “We must find a long-term solution to protecting Myanmar’s critically threatened elephant population and we are optimistic that by working with The Elephant Project we will find that solution.” 
  
The Elephant Project Founder and President Dane Waters stated, “We must take aggressive protective action because extensive deforestation in Myanmar due to historic unsustainable levels of logging has resulted in the reduction of elephants’ natural habitat. This has produced a desperate search by elephants for food in villages and an increase in deadly human-elephant conflicts. Our unprecedented joint effort will add a layer of protection for Myanmar’s elephants that doesn’t currently exist.”
 
As part of the agreement, the Forest Department and The Elephant Project agree to the following to collaborate on elephant relocation efforts in Myanmar:

1. Identify elephants that need relocation

2. Identify mutually agreeable areas to relocate the elephants

3. Agree to best practices to ensure the health and safety of the elephants during relocation

4. Create a timeline and cost analysis for full implementation of project  

Adam Roberts, Senior Advisor to The Elephant Project stated, “We are excited about this opportunity to launch a vital collaboration with the Forest Department. Our paramount concern is for the welfare of the elephants and every precaution will be taken to ensure the safety, protection and humane care of the elephants during the relocation process.”
 
“This agreement is great news for Myanmar's elephants thanks to The Elephant Project’s commitment to elephant protection in our country. This will save countless elephants in Myanmar which are on the run for survival due to deforestation and poaching,” added U Win Aung, The Elephant Project’s Myanmar based Advisory Board member.
 
In the coming months, The Elephant Project will finalize the relocation plan with the Forest Department and begin this unprecedented effort in Myanmar.
 
In addition to the relocation efforts in Myanmar, The Elephant Project is also funding the building of electric fences in the country that will help keep elephants out of the crops of local villagers. This preventive measure reduces the chance that villagers, whose livelihoods are threatened by elephants searching for food, will either kill the elephants themselves or call in poachers to do it for them.
 
“Helping to end human-elephant conflicts in Myanmar is the first step in our long-term commitment to Myanmar’s elephants. We are extremely optimistic that The Elephant Project, working together with the Government of Myanmar, will help ensure the nation’s elephants will survive, and that our joint efforts will serve as a strong testament to what public-private partnerships can accomplish,” continued Waters.
 
As part of The Elephant Project’s long-term commitment to the country, we propose to establish an elephant sanctuary or a system of sanctuaries in Myanmar that would provide a fully funded model for domestic elephant protection and long-term care. To underwrite the costs of operating the sanctuary in perpetuity, The Elephant Project will develop significant residential and commercial real estate investment opportunities in the country. This development will be located adjacent to the sanctuary and permit non-intrusive viewing of elephants for “ecotourism” and “voluntourism”. This unprecedented effort will inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the Myanmar economy, creating a perpetual and powerful funding source for the sanctuary established to protect the country’s elephant population. It is a win for the government, donors, the Burmese people, and most importantly the elephants.”

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THE ELEPHANT PROJECT SOUNDS ALARM OVER INTERIOR DEPARTMENT’S FOIA REORGANIZATION “JUST ANOTHER EXCUSE TO DRAG THEIR FEET TO PROTECT ZINKE AND PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SONS” SAYS PROJECT'S FOUNDER

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL (December 12, 2018) – The Elephant Project founder, Dane Waters, today accused the Department of Interior of installing a new roadblock in its effort to undermine transparency and the timely release of public documents when Secretary Ryan Zinke installed Daniel Jorjani as the head of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program. The reorganization of Interior's FOIA program is just the latest attempt to halt the release of documents like those requested by The Elephant Project in May – seven months ago.
 
“First, Secretary (Ryan) Zinke fills the Interior Department’s International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC) with big game hunters and no bonafide conservationists, then he is investigated by the US Justice Department for multiple ethics violations, and now he is politicizing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program by inserting yet another crony to run it,” The Elephant Project Founder and President Dane Waters said. “Zinke is continuing his pattern of covering up both his own conflicts of interest and those of President Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.”
 
Federal law requires all federal agencies to respond to a FOIA request within 20 business days after the request is received, unless there are unusual circumstances. The Elephant Project filed a FOIA request on May 15, 2018 for all documents relating to the establishment of the IWCC, an official advisory group announced more than a year ago on November 8, 2017. The Council was created in conjunction with the reversal of the importation of elephant trophies policy outlined in a March 1, 2018, memorandum from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Secretary Zinke has shrouded the Department generally, and his actions specifically, since day one. His assault on transparency is anathema to American values and belies the long-standing tradition of ensuring the American public has access to information about government functions,” noted Adam M. Roberts, senior advisor to The Elephant Project. “The most simple and obvious question applies here: what is Zinke trying to hide?”
 
The duty of this newly created board is to develop “a plan for public engagement and education on the benefits of international hunting,” according to its formation documents. In other words, despite its name, the IWCC is designed to promote the killing of elephants under the guise of conservation using taxpayer dollars.
 
The group is required to fill its board with hunters with international hunting experience, and senior-level representatives from companies in international hunting tourism, and those in the firearms trade. Yet no such requirement exists for members to have wildlife conservation backgrounds. In addition, the IWCC counts among its members a co-owner of a hunting preserve with Donald Trump Jr.
 
“If there is any hope of preventing regional extinctions of significant species such as elephants across the globe, the United States must play a lead role in conservation and wildlife protection,” Waters added. “A key component to that leadership is public support for conservation, which begins with a vibrant understanding of what the government is doing. It’s time for the Department of the Interior to shine a bright light on its nefarious inner-workings.”

THE ELEPHANT PROJECT CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS AS ETHICAL QUESTIONS MOUNT AGAINST INTERIOR SECRETARY RYAN ZINKE

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL (November 1, 2018) – In the wake of an ethics charge against US Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke now referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal charges, The Elephant Project is calling for the immediate release of critical documents it requested 6 months ago but the Interior Department has yet to produce.

“With the recent escalation of at least one ethics charge against Secretary Zinke, as reported widely by the news media, we are concerned that he and his staff may be intentionally pushing the limits of the law in complying with our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request,” The Elephant Project Founder and President Dane Waters said. “This new development reinforces my concern that Secretary Zinke has a clear pattern of covering up personal conflicts of interest between his big-game hunting friends and his job in the Trump Administration.

“Interior Secretary Zinke has a long history of hunting big game with his high net worth buddies, including President Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump,” Waters said. “We are deeply concerned he could be using the Department and its International Wildlife Conservation Council (IWCC) to support his own well-known interest in killing wildlife for sport with his friends.”

William Kristol, board member of The Elephant Project and Editor of The Weekly Standard  said, “Transparency is a cornerstone of democracy. Every minute that Secretary Zinke goes unchecked and unquestioned in his systematic deconstruction of the Interior Department is another minute the Trump Administration chips away at that cornerstone. The Administration is clearly more interested in kowtowing to the big game trophy-hunting lobby than it is in addressing threatened wildlife species and US national interests.”

Joe Trippi, board member of The Elephant Project and a top Democratic strategist, said, “The Interior Department is dragging its feet in producing the documents that we have a legal right to review, because they continue to act with impunity. This most recent escalation of an ethics charge against Secretary Zinke to the Justice Department shows that someone is finally taking these charges seriously. We are confident that the documents we have requested will show the involvement by President Trump and members of his family, including his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, in the selection of members of the IWCC and the reversal of the Fish and Wildlife Service policy on the importation of elephant trophies.”

The Elephant Project filed a FOIA request in March for all documents relating to the establishment of the IWCC, an official advisory group announced almost a year ago on November 8, 2017. The Council was created in conjunction with the reversal of the importation of elephant trophies policy outlined in a March 1, 2018 memorandum from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The duty of this newly created board is to develop “a plan for public engagement and education on the benefits of international hunting.” In other words, despite its name, the IWCC is designed to promote the killing of elephants under the guise of conservation.

The group’s formation documents require the board to include hunters with international hunting experience, and senior-level representatives from companies in international hunting tourism and the firearms trade. Yet no such requirement exists for members to have wildlife conservation backgrounds. In addition, the IWCC counts among its members a co-owner of a hunting preserve with Donald Trump Jr.

MYANMAR TO DESTROY CONFISCATED WILDLIFE CONTRABAND IN IMPORTANT PUBLIC CEREMONY

THE ELEPHANT PROJECT APPLAUDS MYANMAR’S STRONG WILDLIFE LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS TO PROTECT THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES FROM SLAUGHTER AND COMMERCIALIZATION

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL (October 3, 2018) – The Elephant Project applauds the Republic of the Union of Myanmar’s crack down on the illegal slaughter and commercial trade of its wild animals – including more than 100 endangered elephants – and the confiscation of a near-record volume of ivory and other body parts headed for the black market.
 
The Elephant Project will show its support Thursday morning, October 4, 2018, when Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation will destroy its cache of illegal animal parts at its “Destruction Ceremony of Confiscated Elephant Ivory and Wildlife Parts” in the capital city, Naypyidaw.
 
“We applaud Myanmar’s government for confiscating 283 ivory tusks from wild elephants and countless body parts in its hardline crackdown on poachers and other criminals,” The Elephant Project’s Founder and President Dane Waters said.
 
“As an organization dedicated to fighting the decimation of elephants in the wild, we work closely with governments and business leaders around the world who live and work with these amazing animals,” Waters said. “We work together on a three-pronged approach that includes relocating elephants in immediate danger, working with governments to strengthen anti-poaching laws, and creating economic opportunities to support elephant populations.”
 
U Win Aung, a former businessman and a member of The Elephant Project’s Advisory Board, who will represent The Elephant Project at the ceremony, said, “These crimes must stop immediately if we are to have any chance to save elephants from disappearing in our lifetime. I strongly believe that destruction ceremonies like this are very important public statements that show trafficking in animal parts is not a lucrative business.”
 
Adam Roberts, an international wildlife expert and The Elephant Project’s senior advisor, said, “Myanmar now joins a number of other countries that have, over recent years, destroyed confiscated wildlife parts and products in a clear global message that wildlife belongs safe in the wild, not slaughtered for sale. It sends a strong signal to wildlife poachers and profiteers that, when it comes to the illegal wildlife trade, Myanmar is closed for business.”