Studies of the regional environment

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Description: AECEN has been commissioned to maintain an environmental impact assessment (EIA) clearinghouse to facilitate knowledge capture and dissemination of information on international and regional best practices in EIA implementation.
Source/publisher: AECEN
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-17
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Description: "Four wild elephants made their way out of the mud pit in Myanmar where they had been trapped on Friday, urged on by the villagers who dug them an escape route. The villagers in the western Rakhine State usually avoid elephants when they come across them in the forest, but feared the animals would have died if they had stayed trapped in the hole. Video verified by Reuters showed the four animals struggling one by one to gain a foothold on the slope where the villagers spent some five hours digging rough steps for them. Eventually they all make it out - the last one appearing to turn briefly towards where villagers are cheering before heading off with its companions. "We rescued them because we know that elephants are at risk of vanishing worldwide and they are part of our state's heritage," Zaw Phyo Than, 40, told Reuters by phone. "The four animals were so cute and that's why everyone from around our village came to save their lives." It was unclear how they fell into the pit. Surveys have estimated that only a few hundred elephants remain in Rakhine State, down from thousands just decades ago..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-06-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Communities in rural Karen State don’t refer to climate change by name, but they have experienced its negative impacts and are responding
Description: "At the foot of Maw Law Ei Mountain, the highest peak in eastern Myanmar’s Karen State, increasing temperatures, drought and extreme weather events, such as flash-flooding, have become common. Members of the indigenous groups that make up the majority of the population here, talk about the significant changes they’ve seen in both the natural environment and the climate. “In the past, it was cooler because we had many big trees,” said Kyaw Blar, a villager from Ta Deh Koh village, one of the villages at the foot of Maw Law Ei mountain (pronounced Mulayit). “It’s all plain area now… it is hotter now...”
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Source/publisher: Karen News
2019-11-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: A local non-governmental organisation has tapped a number of young adults to help in the conservation of Inle Lake in Shan State as part of its environmental protection and sustainable lake management programme.
Description: "The Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development (MMID) seeks to address the need for a sustainable management system for the lake region and to educate local residents about the dangers facing the lake. “Inle Lake is facing severe challenges, as users of the region’s ecosystem, whether knowingly or unknowingly, exploit environmental resources with little consideration of conservation,” said Joern Kristensen, executive director of the institute. “There needs to be more focus on building awareness among local people,” he added. The institute selected 10 people aged 19 to 30 from among more than 50 applicants for the project. “We hope that they will be able to have a big influence on the people living in the area,” Kristensen said, “including those whose livelihoods are connected to the lake.” The successful candidates went through three weeks of training in September, and are expected to reach out to local communities and assess the challenges in a campaign that begins this week and lasts until March..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2019-11-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Pyinoolwin Green Organization claims that despite their efforts to highlight the environmental damage caused by the building of the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline, officials have done little to respond. Sai Min Latt from Pyinoolwin Green Organization said, “The gas pipeline has destroyed springs and other water sources but the local people do not understand this. We presented the destruction of the ecosystem and forest to the officials concerned but they did not take any effective measures. So we do not know what we shall do as they did not do anything in response to our presentations. So I came to this opening ceremony of a school built by the company held today to tell them this is not enough for the destruction they caused.” Sai Min Latt expressed these concerns during the handing over ceremony of a school donated by SEAOP-SEAGP Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines, held in Thone Daung village, Pyinoolwin Township on October 25. “The local people want to see the repair of the damage of ecosystem caused by the building of this Sino-Myanmar gas and oil pipeline. Not only giving this school building. They want the company to give them other things that are needed. Pyinoolwin was once a famous hill resort but now destruction of ecosystem worsens climate change damage here,” he added..."
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Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
2019-10-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "IN RESPONSE to emerging environmental issues caused by heavy reliance on natural resources, Myanmar has come up with new policies on national environment and climate change as well as a master plan, Kyaw Zaw, deputy permanent secretary at the natural and environmental conservation ministry, said. The official told The Nation on Tuesday that Myanmar’s efforts in conserving the environment will become more effective once the new policies and guidelines are in place. “In the past, some of our operations were not as effective as expected because we lacked concrete policy framework and rules,” he said. “Our president recently announced the national environment policy and the climate-change master plan, with support from the United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP] and other development partners. We are now implementing these policies to ensure we protect our environment well.” Kyaw Zaw said the policies would be implemented through short- and long-term development plans. Also, he said, investment will be made in the implementation of policies in cooperation with development partners. President Win Myint announced the launch of the policies on June 5, World Environment Day. He said the aim was to ensure a clean environment with healthy, functioning ecosystems as well as a carbon-resilient, low-carbon society. He also urged investment in renewable energy. Kyaw Zaw, meanwhile, stressed on the need to cooperate with the private sector, urging businesses to follow the environment ministry’s instructions to create a sustainable society. “Whenever a development project is implemented, there can be adverse impacts – both socially and physically. As a regulator, we are trying to minimise such impacts,” he said. On Monday, the environment ministry held talks with World Bank Myanmar to foster cooperation in conservation work. The discussion focused on investment issues, development and capacity building works in prioritised regions, translating newly-prepared instructions into ethnic languages, effective cooperation with locals, drawing up programmes for joint funding to implement waste-management strategy, cooperation with respective states and regions to manage tourism-related wastes..."
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Source/publisher: "The Nation Thailand"
2019-06-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Every year, June 5 marks World Environment Day. As protecting the environment is a global concern, this international day provides an occasion to question what is being done locally to fight climate change and protect our planet.
Description: "And as the degradation of the environment will be tougher on future generations, it is no surprise to see the youth raising awareness about the issue both internationally and at home. Greta Thunberg, a 16-years-old Swedish student, made the news this year by starting an international student strike, driving hundreds of thousands to the streets, with a simple question: “Why should I study for a future that soon may be no more when no one is doing anything to save that future?” Recently, the local youth took part in the global movement called “Fridays for Future”, also known as “School Strike for Climate”, to voice their concerns about the climate crisis in Myanmar..."
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Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2019-06-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: capacity building, environment, forest conservation, forests, natural resources management, stakeholder engagement, sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainable forestry
Topic: capacity building, environment, forest conservation, forests, natural resources management, stakeholder engagement, sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainable forestry
Description: "With support from the Government of Norway, the UN-REDD Programme in partnership with the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC), assisted the Government of Myanmar (GoM) and other stakeholders to develop a “REDD+ Readiness Roadmap” in the period July 2012-August 2013. The signature of the National Programme Document was completed on 15th November 2016, with a duration of 4 years. The first funds transfer from the MPTF-O occurred in November 2016. Thus the 4th quarter of 2018 will represent the half-way stage of implementation of the Programme. Experiences from other countries have indicated that a mid-term review (MTR) can significantly improve progress towards results in the second half of a programme, so a MTR for the Programme is proposed for Q4, 2018. The objective of the MTR is to secure agreement from both the implementing partner (Forest Department) and the three participating UN Agencies on measures to be implemented to improve performance of the Programme, and to ensure achievement of the anticipated results..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) via United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
2018-07-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: About 90 tonnes of plastic waste a day are dumped in the Ayeyarwady River and another 29 tonnes in the Yangon River, said Friedor Jeske, waste management expert at Thant Myanmar.
Description: ""Almost 90 tonnes of plastic trash go into the Ayeyarwady, mostly hard plastic materials, packing and single use foam packaging," he said at a workshop in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday on plastic pollution in the river. Thirty percent of the plastic waste is produced in Yangon. Villages on the Ayeyarwady dump a lot of plastic in the river, he said. The government needs a better garbage collection and waste management system in villages and townships to solve this issue, which would cost about US$20 million per month. There are heaps of plastic waste in the rivers, which eventually end up in the ocean. If the dumping of plastic in the Ayeyarwady is not reduced, plastic waste will pile up on the riverbed, which will make the river rise, and cause riverbank erosion. To reduce plastic pollution, people's lifestyles must change. First, people should be encouraged to avoid using plastics or to reuse plastic items. They should dispose of plastics properly by recycling. The National Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan was drafted by the governemnt to address the problem. Department of Environmental Conservation Director General U Hla Maung Thein said, "This action plan also includes a main measure for plastic reduction." "The real challenge is the fact that we keep using plastics. In the past when there were no plastics, people used natural packaging. But plastic materials are now being used everywhere, and reducing their use has become a huge challenge," he said. The issue is facing not only Myanmar but countries around the world. Research shows that the plastic breaks down into microscopic particles in the water, which end up in fish and people who eat the fish. "According to the World Bank, a person unknowingly consumes about 5 grams of plastic in fish each week, the consequences of which are still being researched," Jeske said..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Water Portal via "Myanmar Times"
2019-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "MRTV broacasts about World Environmental Day celebrated in Nay Pyi Taw on 5 June 2018. This year theme is “Beat Plastic Pollution."....."
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Source/publisher: UN-Habitat Myanmar
2018-06-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The First Experience of Local Communities in Voting Their Two Representatives to the Salween Peace Park’s General Assembly This film documents an exercise in genuinely representative democracy, where a man and a woman from each of the 26 village tracts in Mutraw District in Karen State will voice their community’s will and concerns towards realizing the dream of the Salween Peace Park. Following the launch of the self-declared peace park by Karen communities, leaders and civil society on 18th of December 2018, the process began of selecting community representatives to the committee that will govern and coordinate implementation of the work. In February and March of 2019 election meetings were held in each village tract within the boundaries of the peace park to choose the 52 community representatives in the Salween Peace Park General Assembly. The pair will be assisted by their village tract committee to bring local peoples' needs and values into the administrative body's work..."
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Source/publisher: Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN)
2019-04-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In the mountains of Mutraw District, Karen State, community members worked together to create sustainable, clean, locally governed electricity. Through this effort community members show that in Burma community-centered energy governance is a viable alternative to destructive large hydropower projects like the Hatgyi dam..."
Creator/author: KESAN Channel
Source/publisher: Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN)
2019-03-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Sgaw Karen, (English sub-titles)
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Description: "... The survey on the Hoolock Gibbon and biodiversity was conducted by the Karen Environmental Social Action Network (KESAN), with technical support from the People Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF). Funding was provided to the PRCF by the Gibbon Conservation Alliance. The survey is a contribution to the project Myanmar Hoolock Gibbon Conservation Status Review project, which is jointly implemented by the PRCF, Fauna & Flora International (FFI), and the Myanmar Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA). Methods and approach are generally speaking those being adopted for the Status Review, to allow comparison between all survey sites throughout Myanmar..."
Creator/author: Saw Blaw Htoo, Mark E Grindley
Source/publisher: Karen Environmental Social Action Network (KESAN)
2010-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.77 MB
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Description: The State of the Tropics report will consider the question: Is life in the tropics getting better? The report will analyse a range of environmental, social and economic indicators to answer this question. The analysis will shine a bright light on a variety of key issues and provide a foundation for policy makers, geopolitical analysts and other stakeholders to examine in greater detail the tropics and the major issues affecting it. Given these multiple dimensions, answers to the fundamental question are likely to be positive for some aspects and negative for others. Furthermore, people hold different values and what is viewed as progress by some will be seen as regress by others. That is, the concept of progress is influenced by an individual?s perspective. The Report will also identify major challenges for the Zone, recognising that it is important the focus is not too negative, and includes a discussion of opportunities. State of the Tropics will be a dispassionate, statistical analysis of a range of statistical indicators that will reveal trends and areas where progress is being made or lost. Data will be gathered from existing collections from authoritative sources and there will be no new data collection. An indicators data base will be developed and made available publicly, with annual data updates. For completeness, the Report will examine issues that bind the different parts of the Zone together. Geography is clearly one element in common, and another is climate. Consequently, climate and climate change and its economic, social and environmental impacts will be examined. A five yearly State of the Tropics report will be published, and will be supplemented by an annual State of the Tropics paper focusing on a key issue in the tropical world. For universities and research institutions focused on the tropics, this is our place, and we share a responsibility to work with and for the people of the tropics, to bring to bear the power of our understanding, science and innovation on the issues of the tropics to create a brighter future for the tropics and its peoples. This is the main rationale for producing the State of the Tropics Report......Section 1 – Foreword, Executive Summary and Introduction (4.1mb)... Section 2 – The Ecosystem (8.8mb)... Section 3 – The Human System (15.6mb)... Download the report with single page views (easier to print): Section 1 – Foreword, Executive Summary and Introduction (5.2mb)... Section 2 – The Ecosystem (12.5mb)... Section 3 – The Human System (Health, Education and Work) (11mb)... Section 3 – The Human System (Economy and Governance) (11mb).
Source/publisher: James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.
2014-06-29
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: To assist AECEN Members and others in promoting improved environmental compliance and enforcement in Asia, AECEN has adopted a set of regional principles that are based on international law and national experiences in Asia, and worldwide. Based on a consultative process with Members and other experts, the principles reflect national experiences in Asia, and worldwide. In applying the principles, AECEN Members and other agencies develop courses of action based on their own legal and institutional frameworks, developmental policies and priorities, and available resources."..... Introduction... Institutional Arrangements... Planning, Performance and Evaluation... Compliance Monitoring, Inspection and Permitting... Enforcement Response... Compliance Promotion and Incentives... Public Participation
Source/publisher: AECEN
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "...This document represents the ecosystem profile for the Indo-Burma Hotspot, which comprises all non-marine parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, plus parts of southern China. With its high levels of plant and animal endemism, and limited remaining natural habitat, Indo-Burma ranks among the top 10 biodiversity hotspots for irreplaceability and the top five for threat. Indo-Burma holds more people than any other hotspot, and its remaining natural ecosystems, already greatly reduced in extent, are subject to intense and growing pressure from habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, and over-exploitation of natural resources...A total of 753 species outcomes, 509 site outcomes and 66 corridor outcomes were defined for the hotspot. Among these, 151 species, 74 sites and four corridors were prioritized for conservation investment. The priority species represent a significant increase over the 67 identified in the original ecosystem profile. This can be attributed largely to the inclusion, for the first time, of priority plant species, and the expansion of the analysis to include Myanmar, home to a suite of species not found elsewhere in the hotspot..."
Source/publisher: Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
2012-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 5.12 MB
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