A report on the first environmental performance assessment (EPA) conducted in Myanmar. The assessment covers seven environmental concerns: forest resources, biodiversity, land degradation, management of water resources, waste management, air pollution from mobile sources, and climate change....EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Like its Greater Mekong Subregion neighbors, Myanmar has been trying to reconcile the demands of economic growth with the integrity of its physical environment and the long-term health of its citizens. This Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) report evaluates the degree of success that national stakeholders have had in achieving this objective, expressed in a number of different ways in official policy documents. The assessment is confined to seven key environmental concerns, viz., forest resources, biodiversity, land degradation, management of water resources, waste management, air pollution from mobile sources and climate change. The assessment uses a structure of performance indicators and is supported by detailed statistical information. Reinforced by policy and institutional support, progress has been made towards safeguarding the forest resources despite evidence of increased pressure on them during the last three decades. Following a period of rapid loss between 1975 and 1995, the forest cover stabilized around 51 per cent at the turn of the last decade. The expansion of the Permanent Forest Estate is a strong positive feature. It is too early to say what the effect of recent re-orientation of forest management towards community management and greater attention to reducing fuelwood consumption has been. Myanmar?s exceptionally rich biodiversity could not escape the effect of the pressure on habitats during the last two decades, in particular the rapid loss of natural forest in the 1980s (and its continuation to this day), and loss of mangroves. The authorities? response has been to expand the protected area system to about 6.5 per cent of the total land area by 2004. Although the country is well endowed with land suitable for agriculture, it is not immune to different forms of land degradation. Soil erosion is serious in the uplands on about 10 per cent of the country?s cultivated areas. The authorities? land rehabilitation schemes have not kept pace with new cultivation by the upland farmers, the trend sustained by high rates of population growth. Myanmar is perceived as a low water stress country. Nonetheless, the dominant role of rice in the cropping systems and several other factors has made irrigation a priority concern. The volume of irrigation water storage capacity has increased 27 times since 1988. Given the continued policy and strategic preference for more paddies, the pressure on supplying more water for irrigated farming is set to remain high in the foreseeable future. Sustained funding of the irrigation water storage capacity and irrigation management has made it possible to improve the percentage of total lands effectively irrigated. The country has achieved substantial progress in providing its population with safe drinking water and Myanmar scores well in comparison to other GMS countries. In rural areas, access increased from 50% in 1995 to 74% in 2003. In urban areas the increase was from 78% in 1995 to 92% in 2003. Solid waste management in Myanmar presents a mixed picture of clear improvements in the country?s two premier cities (Yangon and Mandalay) combined with stagnating or deteriorating collection and disposal in other States and Divisions. In Yangon, a reduced volume of waste per capita has resulted in an overall decline in the volume of waste generated. The authorities? greater efforts at collecting the waste disposal fees are believed to be largely responsible for this outcome. Unsystematic and insufficient information on air quality in Myanmar limits the authorities? and the public?s knowledge about the principal trends and the contributions that vehicles make to atmospheric pollution in the principal cities. What can be said with a greater degree of confidence is that the ?vehicle density? has been on the rise in Yangon and Mandalay. At the same time, it appears that the fuel consumed per vehicle has been declining. The National Commission for Environmental Affairs (NCEA) is the central body tasked to manage the environment in concert with sectoral agencies such as the Ministry of Forestry. Since its establishment NCEA has achieved some progress in integrating environmental concerns into the economic development mainstream. This included the ormulation of the national environmental policy (1994), and drafting of ?Myanmar Agenda 21? as a framework for a multi-pronged approach to sustainable development. However, NCEA requires more administrative and financial support to further increase its effectiveness. The enactment of the draft national environment protection law might be a key step in that direction."