In the Kayan region of Myanmar, villagers from Tha Yu Village burn dry trees on the mountains as part of an entrenched "slash-and-burn" agricultural practice.
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00:00In the hills of Paikom, Myanmar, thick smoke rises as villagers light fires in a centuries-old ceremony.
00:14It's a moment of renewal tied to a tradition called shifting cultivation,
00:19a way of farming passed down through generations.
00:23Joseph, a 27-year-old youth leader from Thayu village says,
00:32this is the only work we have. Without it, we cannot survive.
00:38We started to grow. And when it comes to children, we become more successful than it is.
00:49People come to us companies saying we are the only one who is the only one.
00:53We can do that for the next year.
01:00It's all about the same.
01:05Every year, between January and April, fires like these sweep across Southeast Asia, sending
01:12harmful smoke into the sky.
01:16In Myanmar, it shortens lives.
01:18But in conflict-torn regions, few have the means or options to change.
01:24Joseph explains, we only burn for an hour, and we follow rules, burning each field just
01:31once every ten years.
01:33If you find out Uzayah, it's the same.
01:36Please stop.
01:39We post it in a fashion.
01:40I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
01:42I said nothing to do.
01:45The end is the same.
01:47I have no way to go.
01:49If you don't have the means or if you don't have the means or to get the means or to get it,
01:54you know.
01:55That's the way that comes from the万iai.
01:57Still, the air grows thicker, the forest thinner.
02:27Khun Besai from the Kayaan Cultural Committee says,
02:31We see no alternatives, but we don't want our people blamed.
02:36What we need is access to better education and technology.
02:57As the fires crackle and the villagers dance in celebration, they also dance with uncertainty.
03:14Trying to preserve their culture while the world around them changes.
03:23How to achieve their culture as possible.
03:28The