Forests

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Sub-title: Communities in biodiverse Tanintharyi Region are spurning big, top-down projects and seeking recognition for their own approach to conservation.
Description: "From its forested borderlands in the east, to vast mangrove forests and hundreds of island ecosystems in the Andaman Sea to the west, Tanintharyi Region is a bastion of nature and biodiversity. The region is home to one of the largest remaining expanses of intact low-elevation evergreen forest in Southeast Asia, a stronghold for endangered and endemic species including tigers, tapirs and pangolins. Indigenous communities have managed this landscape according to local knowledge and practices for generations, and have mobilised to protect it from the large-scale oil palm and mining projects that have expanded across the region. Inter-linking territories connect to form an indigenous-conserved landscape – one that presents an alternative to top-down conservation projects proposed by the government and international conservation organisations. “Our lands are threatened both by expanding agribusiness and mining projects on one side, and national parks and conservation on the other,” said Saw San Ngwe, a community leader and director of the Myeik-based Southern Youth Development Organization. “Our communities have been conserving this area for generations; it’s time for their efforts and initiatives to be recognised and supported.” Tanawthari Landscape of Life , a new report by Conservation Alliance Tanawthari, a coalition of Karen community-based groups working in the region, outlines the interconnected conservation initiatives of indigenous communities throughout the landscape. This “landscape of life” testifies to the joint efforts of communities to forge a new future that centres on the peaceful interconnections between indigenous communities and nature..."
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Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2020-05-22
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "A team of scientists from China and Myanmar recently finished a joint field biodiversity survey in northern Myanmar, making new discoveries including potentially six new plant species and three new amphibian species along with capturing rare footage of endangered wild animals. During the survey, the team comprising of researchers from the Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-SEABRI) and the Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation of Myanmar, collected more than 3,300 specimens of plants and animals during the month-long project in the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary in Myanmar's Sagaing Region. The team captured footage of Bengal tigers for the first time since the joint scientific endeavor began five years ago. The scientists also took pictures of large predators like black bears and sun bears, as well as large-and medium-sized mammals including Asian elephants, red deer, and Indian bisons..."
Source/publisher: "China Global Television Network (CGTN)" (China)
2020-01-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Plans are being drawn to set up an institution to produce rangers capable of looking after the wildlife and forests in Myanmar. The college, which will focus on conservation efforts, is being developed by the Forest Department in the North Zarmari Wildlife Sanctuary in Bago, according to The Myanmar Times. The World Wide Fund for Nature-Myanmar said the institution may commence operations late next year. Training will be offered to staff from the department and the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division under the Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Ministry. Forest Department deputy director-general General Kyaw Kyaw Lwin said the institution would groom forest rangers. He said wildlife conservation and management for protected areas would be given emphasis in the training. Kyaw said the curriculum for the school was being developed and that the institution would bring in local and international experts to train rangers. He said the department is working with WWF-Myanmar, World Conservation Society and South African Wildlife Rangers College in establishing the institution..."
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Source/publisher: "New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
2019-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "How long does it take garbage to decompose? Do you know it? According to scientists, plastic items could take up to 500 years to decompose in landfills. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest issue worldwide, with statistic showing that there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050 if we do not change our habits. A simple example of the consequence of this ecological disaster, this year, a whale has died in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags. In Myanmar, 80 million plastic bags are used every day and over 1690 tons of garbage is generated per day on the average from townships in Yangon Region, and 10 % of them are plastic waste. The situation is certainly not going to improve. Indeed, plastic bottles and solid waste production tripled in the last 5 years. In 2014, The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) - which is a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies- ranked Myanmar 164 out of 178 countries analyzed. According to the EPI, almost every aspect of performance related to regulation or infrastructure has scores among the lowest globally. For instance, Wastewater treatment was ranked 145. In addition, ecosystem vitality and protection of terrestrial biodiversity come out as particularly weak as Environmental health was ranked 137 with a score of 41.39. Forest and water resources as seen as the main Environmental Concerns basing on the Environmental Performance Assessment funded by the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme. However, Myanmar government tries to tackle this issue through law and regulations. In its Constitution of 2008, Sec. 45 states that “The Union shall protect and conserve natural environment” and according to Sec. 390 (b) “Every citizen has the duty to assist the Union carrying out the environmental conservation”. Moreover, in his report, Dr. San Oo Director of Environmental Conservation Department, describes “sustainability Roadmap for Myanmar” whose legal framework is mainly based on two laws..."
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Source/publisher: "CCI France Myanmar"
2018-06-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: ""Resilience" is a documentary film that features the indigenous Karen Communities living in Pa-an and Mutraw District, Karen State of Burma/Myanmar. They use their ancestors? traditional wisdom to systematically conserve land, forest and water resources so as to maintain sustainable livelihoods and food security and at the same time adapt to climatic changes..."...For a list of videos click on the kesan.asia link and then on the Videos button.
Source/publisher: KESAN
2018-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "... Extremely rapid growth in Chinese imports of ?redwood?, ?rosewoods? or ?Hongmu? timbers from Myanmar in the past two years is directly driving increased illegal and unsustainable logging, posing a real threat to governance, the rule of law and the viability Myanmar?s dwindling forests. EIA research shows that, based on current trends, the two most targeted Hongmu species in Myanmar - tamalan and padauk - could be logged to commercial extinction in as little as three years. With financial rewards for illegal loggers and timber smugglers dwarfing traditional incomes, and evidence of corruption facilitating illegal business, Myanmar?s domestic controls will be unable to effectively stem illegal trade. Myanmar urgently needs to engender legal reciprocity from strategic timber trade partners, particularly China, to ensure Myanmar?s forestry and trade laws are respected along its land border. In the absence of laws prohibiting illegal timber in China, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) presents the most immediate and effective mechanism to secure China?s respect for Myanmar?s forestry and trade laws. The Myanmar Government should seek CITES Appendix III protection for its at-risk Hongmu species ? Dalbergia oliveri / bariensis (tamalan) and Pterocarpus macrocarpus (padauk) - at the soonest opportunity to ensure trade is in line with sustainable exploitation of existing standing stocks. The CITES community should assist Myanmar in both instituting and enforcing CITES listings for these key species, and in seeking regional Appendix II listings by the 17th CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP17) in 2016. Enhancing the capacity of Myanmar?s existing CITES Management and Scientific Authorities will be an important element of this work...."
Source/publisher: EIA
2014-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.35 MB
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Description: "... Evolution of the Myanmar strategy of forest restoration is reviewed and five types of forest plantations, with different sets of objectives, under different ecological conditions are described. Socio-economic and environmental issues of reforestation through plantation forestry are discussed and technical aspects of site selection, species choice, nursery practice, planting methods and follow-up silvicultural treatments are briefly presented. Use of well-adapted genetic resources; correct site/species matching, good silviculture and sustained protection at all stages from seed collection to harvesting is stressed. Priority areas of further research needs are also indicated..."
Creator/author: Sein Maung Wint
Source/publisher: Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA)
1993-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 51.54 KB
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Description: "... Myanmar is a country of huge biodiversity importance that is undergoing major political change, bringing with it new international engagement. This includes access to international markets, which will likely spur investment in export-oriented agriculture, leading to increased pressures on already threatened ecosystems. This scenario is illustrated in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the country?s agricultural heartland sustaining high deforestation rates. Using the Delta as a model system, we use an integrated approach to inquire about whether and how imminent agricultural reforms associated with an internationally-engaged Myanmar could introduce new actors and incentives to invest in agricultural expansion that could affect deforestation rates. We use a novel remote sensing analysis to quantify deforestation rates for the Delta from 1978 to 2011, develop business-as-usual deforestation scenarios, and contextualize those results with an analysis of contemporary policy changes within Myanmar that are expected to alter the principal drivers of land-cover change. We show that mangrove systems of Myanmar are under greater threat than previously recognized, and that agriculture has been the principle driver of deforestation on the Delta. The centrality of agriculture to the Myanmar economy indicates that emerging policies are likely to tip the scales towards agricultural expansion, agro-industrial investment and potentially greater rates of deforestation due to the introduction of well-funded investors, insufficient land tenure agreements, and low governance effectiveness. The broad national challenge is to initiate environmental governance reforms (including safeguards) in the face of significant pressures for land grabbing and opportunistic resource extraction..."
Creator/author: Kevin Woods
Source/publisher: The Journal of Peasant Studies
2011-09-14
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 782.94 KB 4.22 MB
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