Myanmar Environmental Analysis
Interim Country Partnership Strategy: Myanmar, 2012-2014
ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS1 A. Key Environment and Natural Resources
1. Myanmar’s economic development and its people’s livelihoods largely depend on the country’s bountiful natural resources. Despite the low level of industrialization and the low population density, Myanmar’s environment is threatened by human activities and climate change. 2. Myanmar’s forest cover and quality have steadily declined over the last 30 years, although it remains higher than other countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Forest cover decreased from 61% of the land area in 1975 to 49% in 2006. Natural forest loss averaged 392,540 hectares annually during 1989-2006, representing a major acceleration in forest cover loss. 3. Unsustainable extraction activities put significant pressure on forests. While the government has long practiced sustainable forest management, available data show that commercial logging operations have consistently exceeded the annual allowable cut. Illegal logging in remote and difficult-to-monitor areas, conversion of forest to agriculture, commercial agriculture, and extraction of fuelwood are additional pressures on forests. Fuelwood extraction, which accounted for about 92% of total wood removal in 2000, is significant compared to roundwood removals as more than 80% of total primary energy in Myanmar is still supplied by fuelwood. 4. To address deforestation, the government has established forest reserves with a policy target of 30% of the total land area. Starting from a base of 15% in 1985, protected forest increased to about 26% in 2006. Expenditure on forest conservation also increased in response to the threat of forest depletion, with annual spending growing almost 90 times in nominal terms during 1988–2007. Forest plantations received about 27% of the total annual budget in 2007; other forest management activities received smaller shares of the budget (e.g., natural regeneration
ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS1 A. Key Environment and Natural Resources
1. Myanmar’s economic development and its people’s livelihoods largely depend on the country’s bountiful natural resources. Despite the low level of industrialization and the low population density, Myanmar’s environment is threatened by human activities and climate change. 2. Myanmar’s forest cover and quality have steadily declined over the last 30 years, although it remains higher than other countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Forest cover decreased from 61% of the land area in 1975 to 49% in 2006. Natural forest loss averaged 392,540 hectares annually during 1989-2006, representing a major acceleration in forest cover loss. 3. Unsustainable extraction activities put significant pressure on forests. While the government has long practiced sustainable forest management, available data show that commercial logging operations have consistently exceeded the annual allowable cut. Illegal logging in remote and difficult-to-monitor areas, conversion of forest to agriculture, commercial agriculture, and extraction of fuelwood are additional pressures on forests. Fuelwood extraction, which accounted for about 92% of total wood removal in 2000, is significant compared to roundwood removals as more than 80% of total primary energy in Myanmar is still supplied by fuelwood. 4. To address deforestation, the government has established forest reserves with a policy target of 30% of the total land area. Starting from a base of 15% in 1985, protected forest increased to about 26% in 2006. Expenditure on forest conservation also increased in response to the threat of forest depletion, with annual spending growing almost 90 times in nominal terms during 1988–2007. Forest plantations received about 27% of the total annual budget in 2007; other forest management activities received smaller shares of the budget (e.g., natural regeneration