One of their tasks was to document the teak deforestation in Myanmar that had taken place since the 1988 ban on teak harvesting in Thailand. Since then, Thai truck loggers have gained logging concessions from Myanmar and now continue their work across the border on the last remaining intact teak forest in southeast Asia. Myanmar's rapid deforestation has denuded hills and eroded thin topsoil. ERI wants teak loggers in the Myanmar region to take measures to implement sustainable forest management policies. We've said we'll be there until there's democracy in Myanmar.
Democratization is one means to erase social injustices.
Colgate professor of biology John Novak traveled to Thailand to continue his own work with the Karen refugees, begun in Mae Sot and the Shoklo Refugee Camp in 1995. He also served as a consultant to ERI to teach members of the group ecological principles about tropical forests, traveling to a Thai teak plantation, a sawmill, and Sai Yok National Park. In the future he hopes to have students accompany him to Thailand, when their safety can be reasonably assured.