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Logging Burma's Frontier Forests



NEW REPORT FROM WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
"Logging Burma's Frontier Forests: Resources and the Regime"
http://www.wri.org/wri/ffi/burma/

This new report maps out and assesses the impact of unsustainable
logging in Burma's forests. Major findings include:

* Burma holds half of the remaining forest in mainland Southeast Asia.
Having lost virtually all of their original forest cover, Burma's neighbors --
China, India, and Thailand -- rely increasingly on Burma as a source of
timber. Most of the regional timber trade is illegal.

* The rate of deforestation in Burma has more than doubled since the
current  military regime that rules the country came to power in 1988.

* Increased deforestation is primarily due to a rapid growth in logging
in Burma's border areas. Timber exports have helped pay for the regime's
arms purchases and a doubling in the size of the army.

* Seventeen of the 20 ethnic minority armies, many of which have been
in insurrection since independence in 1948, have negotiated cease-fires
with the regime, but not peace agreements. The current situation of "no
peace, no war" has encouraged unbridled logging in some of the border
areas.

* Wasteful and destructive logging by the regime, some of the ethnic
minorities, and foreign companies along the borders with China and
Thailand has resulted in extensive deforestation that has caused
massive soil erosion, sedimentation of rivers, increased flooding, and
acute dry season water shortages in some areas.

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, has
clearly stated her opposition to foreign involvement in conservation
work in Burma under current political conditions (NCGUB, 1997): 

"I doubt under the present circumstances you can do
anything very effectively in the way of conservation for two
reasons. One is that under the kind of military regime that we
have here you would not be allowed free access to all the
people with whom you wish to work. The second is that the
people of Burma are very poor and when people are poor they
are not primarily concerned with conservation unless you can
make them understand that it is in their own economic
interests. You have to make people understand that
conservation is not just for the purpose of creating a beautiful
scenery for rich tourists to look at. It's about peoples'
everyday lives in a country in which 80 percent of the
population are rural. 

"I doubt whether any project which is implemented through
the SLORC is done with the consent of the people involved, 
the people who live on the land. Unless the people on the land 
are involved and unless they  understand and are enthusiastic 
about the conservation project, I think it could lead to a lot of 
bitter feelings and misunderstanding."

Until these conflicts are resolved, the authors conclude, there is no scope
for effective direct engagement with the regime in support of forest
conservation.

We welcome your comments.

---------------------------------------
Forest Frontiers Initiative
World Resources Institute
1709 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006
tel: 202/638-6300
fax: 202/638-0036
http://www.wri.org/wri/
Media contact: Frank Dexter Brown (frankb@xxxxxxx) or Mary Houser
(maryh@xxxxxxx)