Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades.
Starting from 2024, the military’s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, forcing thousands to leave the country. Meanwhile, environmental degradation continues to worsen. People are facing multiple crises, including environmental destruction caused by the overexploitation of natural resources, natural disasters, armed conflict, and human rights violations by the military regime.
The democratic freedoms that used to exist during the five years of semi-civilian government before the coup have disappeared. Within this context, environmental activism and conservation efforts have widely faded.
Yet, against this backdrop, the environmental group Clean Mountains was established in 2024 and is based in the conflict-affected states of Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin), areas controlled by resistance forces. The organization — funded through grants and donations — is a small, women-led team of four members between the ages of 22 and 28. The group’s founder, Ou Ou, 27, leads Clean Mountains in implementing community-based conservation in conflict-affected mountainous regions, focusing on waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation.
Through both her previous organization and Clean Mountains, waste management systems have been established in more than 130 villages, including 15 in Karenni state alone. Each waste collection cycle gathers approximately 600 kilograms (1,322 pounds) to 1 ton of waste per village.
Mongabay spoke with Ou Ou in June. The following interview has been translated from Burmese and edited for length and clarity.
Mongabay: How does environmental work connect to your personal identity and personality?
Ou Ou: This is connected to my childhood. I grew up in a broken family, and I felt my existence did not matter to anyone. I felt like a useless person. But when I started working in the environmental field, I began to see the impact of my actions. My contributions could benefit many people and ecosystems.
I previously worked in hotels in customer service. At that time, I often asked myself why I was using my knowledge and energy to make the wealth of the owner. That feeling pushed me to shift toward work that benefits the people.
Gradually, I realized that the consequences of environmental destruction are very scary. If we do not act now, future generations may not have clean air or safe water. Environmental degradation is also a violation of children’s rights.
Although I did not receive much love or protection in my childhood, I want to leave something good for the next generation. I continue my environmental work with this mindset.
Mongabay: What were you doing before the coup, and what have you been doing since the coup?
Ou Ou: I have been working in environmental conservation since 2018. I am primarily an activist focused on reducing plastic waste and plastic pollution. Across Myanmar, from Kachin state in the north to Kawthaung in the south, I worked to establish waste collection systems in villages. My work was mainly grassroots-oriented, focusing on community-based projects. In late 2024, travel became increasingly difficult due to the military conscription law, and I fall within the age range under this law. I did not want to give up my work and leave the country. So, I relocated to resistance-controlled areas in Karenni and Karen states.
Mongabay: How does your waste management program work? Do community members participate directly, or does your team collect the waste yourselves?
Ou Ou: Our philosophy is that we do not give fish. We teach how to catch fish. When we enter a village, we first meet with village leaders, elders, administrators and internally displaced persons committees to discuss how a waste management system can be established and operated. After that, we organize a meeting, introduce ourselves [to the community], introduce the project and explain our objectives transparently.
We then provide awareness sessions depending on the size of the community. We teach people how to separate waste and how to dispose of it properly.
Then, we help establish a waste management committee to ensure the system continues functioning, whether we are here or not. The committee then determines its own garbage collection schedule, whether once a week, every two weeks or once a month.
Unlike municipal waste services in urban areas, our model emphasizes community participation. Villagers use any transportation available — oxcarts, farm tractor, three-wheel auto rickshaw, motorcycles and trucks — to collect waste. Recyclable materials are sold to junk shops. However, due to transportation difficulties and the many military checkpoints, much of the recyclable waste never reaches recycling facilities and instead ends up in dumpsites.
Plastic waste, which poses the greatest environmental risk, is collected and sorted by hand and disposed of in designated locations away from residential areas. Through this system, waste generated by approximately 200 households can be processed within an hour.
Households manage food scraps by feeding them to their livestock. For other biodegradable waste, we teach them how to make compost.
