Deforestation

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Description: "Myanmar is facing the risks of climate change impacts as the country’s annual deforestation rate between 2010 and 2015 reached 1.72 per cent, said Ohn Win, Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation at a workshop on the suggestion on the analytical results of the village firewood plantation law and bylaw, at Tungapuri Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on June 7. In his opening speech, the Union Minister said, “The country’s forest resources are declining due to the facts such as agricultural extension, rapid urbanization, high demands for firewood, excessive timber extraction and illegal timber logging. According to the FAO’s FRA-2015, the forest coverage area accounts for 42.92 per cent of the country’s total area. The climate changes hamper the sustainable development of the country. It is found that the country is in need of village firewood forest plantations for the firewood, fuel and other basic forest products which are essential for the people. To satisfy the firewood needs of the rural people, the establishment of 1.35 million acres of the village firewood plantations and 2.27 million acres of community-owned forest plantations, from 2010 to 2030, is clearly described in the major project for the National Forest Sector, the Union Minister added..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
2019-06-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The top-level conspiracy behind the global trade in Myanmar’s stolen teak
Description: "The forests of Myanmar are defined by their monetary value and have been part of the military and economic elites’ profits and, in some cases, survival for decades. The entire legal state forestry and timber trade sectors are riddled with corruption. Current laws seem to seek the criminalisation of local people and the Government is undermining the communities’ reliance on resources while at the same time introducing a centralised system of management they are unable to implement. Myanmar’s government presents the teak trade as being wholly legal and sustainable, produced in compliance with the rule of law. This is simply not the case. A two-year undercover investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) into a near-mythic ‘Burmese teak kingpin’ who conspired with and bribed the most senior military and government officials in Myanmar has revealed how he was able to establish a system of fraudulent trade. This was run in parallel to, and within, the official legal trade administered by the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) – a state-owned company with a monopoly on all logging and timber trade in the country. Diverse and extensive, Myanmar’s forests form part of the ‘Indo-Burma Hotspot’, one of the world’s most important biodiversity areas, featuring a huge range of endemic flora and fauna. More than 200 globally threatened species live in Myanmar’s forests, including elephants, tigers, sun bears and the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. These forests are an important source of food and fuel for Myanmar’s people, 70 per cent of whom live in rural areas where forests underpin basic livelihoods. Teak’s combination of properties – a range of beautiful golden-to-red hues on tight, straight grains, Category 1 durability classification, termite, water and insect resistance and its excellent machinability and weathering properties – have earned it the moniker of ‘King of Woods’. In recent decades Myanmar has suffered a deforestation crisis. Timber extraction is considered the main driver of forest degradation inside the country’s forest reserve areas. Overharvesting has been “long term and systematic, persisting until forests are exhausted”. Nominally legal forestry operations by MTE and its subcontractors – which prioritised revenue generation – have not allowed forests to recover between cycles of harvesting. Illegal logging is also a major contributor to forest loss in Myanmar, with EIA investigations in 2014/15 revealing how Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed organisations both profit from the massive illegal timber trade. Demand for Myanmar teak in Western markets is largely driven by the furniture and boat-building sectors, particularly the yacht and superyacht decking market which seek the highest grades of Myanmar teak. The biggest direct markets for Myanmar teak are China, India and Thailand, which between them imported a staggering 4.04 million m3 of teak logs and sawn timber direct from Myanmar between 2007-17, worth $2.79 billion..."
Source/publisher: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.71 MB
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