ผลงานชนะเลิศ 10 ภาพเล่าเรื่อง Season 8: Salween, A Living Heritage
NG Thai
ผลงานรางวัลชนะเลิศ การประกวดภาพถ่ายสารคดี 10 ภาพเล่าเรื่อง Season 8
โดย Matias Bercovich
แนวคิดของสารคดี
Salween, A Living Heritage
The Salween, running along the border between Myanmar and Thailand, is Southeast Asia’s longest free-flowing river and the lifeblood of the Karen indigenous people who have inhabited its basin for thousands of years. Throughout generations, Karen communities have developed their ways of life in harmony with the extraordinary local biodiversity. But ongoing plans for hydropower projects, protracted conflict, and rapid socioeconomic changes have continuously threatened the survival of this vital heritage. This story delves into the intimate connection of local communities to their ancestral lands and the traditional beliefs, rituals, and practices that shape this relationship. By recording the human-nature interactions that underpin Karen people’s existence, from their identity and livelihoods to their health and conservation efforts, I aim to address the cultural and environmental value of the Salween basin and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect it.
In the banks of the Salween, animist villagers perform a ceremony known as Lu Htee Hta, literally ‘to make an offering at the mouth of the stream,’ praying to nature spirits to protect their communities and lands from the threats of natural disasters and a series of five dams planned on the river.
Running along the border between Myanmar and Thailand, the Salween remains Southeast Asia’s longest free-flowing river. However, after the 2021 military coup, the junta declared their intentions to resume halted hydropower projects throughout the country, including the Hatgyi Dam in Karen State.
Daw Lar Lake, Karen State’s largest freshwater lake, is located eighty kilometers downstream of the Hatgyi Dam site. Its watershed biodiversity is vital to the eight thousand people who live in the surrounding villages and have sustainably managed the area for generations.
Free Burma Rangers cross the Yunzalin River, one of the main Salween tributaries, as they embark on a relief mission to aid civilians affected by the escalation of conflict in Karen State.
Every year on March 14, the International Day of Action for Rivers, Karen communities gather along the Salween River to condemn the planned construction of the Hatgyi Dam in Karen State. The dam would flood at least forty-one Karen villages and two wildlife sanctuaries.
In Ler Mu Plaw village, Saw Maw Lahe uses a water-powered rice pounder to remove the hard outer shell of grains after the harvest. The Karen are mostly subsistence farmers practicing paddy and rotational farming. However, decades of conflict have caused their continuous food insecurity.
ในหมู่บ้านเลอมูพลอ Saw Maw Lahe ใช้เครื่องตำข้าวพลังน้ำเพื่อเอาเปลือกนอกที่แข็งของเมล็ดข้าวออกหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว ชาวกะเหรี่ยงส่วนใหญ่ประกอบอาชีพทำนาเพื่อยังชีพและทำไร่หมุนเวียน อย่างไรก็ตาม ความขัดแย้งหลายทศวรรษทำให้เกิดความไม่มั่นคงทางอาหารอย่างต่อเนื่อง
Since the 2021 Myanmar military coup, humanitarian relief has been vital for the survival of displaced people whose livelihoods have been disrupted. The Salween, historically a geographic barrier dividing Karen communities, is now a crucial corridor for the flow of aid along the Myanmar-Thai border.
Villagers cross the Yunzalin River with their domesticated elephants. For centuries, Karen indigenous people have used elephants for farming, logging, and transporting heavy loads across the region’s rugged mountainous terrain.
“Kaw” is a Karen word that means “country.” Kaw is also the Karen indigenous land management system, which integrates the management of aquatic habitats, household lands, and communal forests, creating a diverse ecosystem that allows biodiversity to continue to thrive in the inhabited landscape.
Saw La Shwe Moo is one of the custodians of the K’chaw Hter Community Forest, an ecological, social, and spiritual sanctuary for Karen indigenous people encompassing 14,604 acres in the Salween basin.