Rubber plantations
Individual Documents
Description:
"A high-ranking Myanmar official has called for sustainable development in natural rubber plantation to avoid degradation of forest, biodiversity and ecosystem.
Dr. Aung Thu, minister of agriculture, livestock and irrigation, made the remarks at the International Rubber Conference 2019, which began in Nay Pyi Taw Monday, according to the ministry Tuesday.
Aung Thu called for supporting rubber growers and increasing the export substitution for rubber products to expand market for the planters and create more job opportunities.
He advised to adopt policies for sustainable development of the industry, cooperate with local and international organizations, support the production of high-quality rubber and provide assistance to small-scale rubber planters.
Myanmar joined the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries and became a member of International Rubber Research and Development Board in December 2018..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-10-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
antation owner say, after they pay their workers, there’s not much profit left.
Source/publisher:
Radio Free Asia
Date of publication:
2015-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"Sustainable rubber is the future and Myanmar has the chance to be
a leading player - a win-win-win for the environment, communities
and the economy.”
Myanmar is one of the most biodiverse countries in Southeast
Asia. Its pristine forests, free flowing rivers, beautiful lakes and
other natural assets support the livelihoods of millions of people.
However, these natural assets are in grave danger. Threats
including infrastructure development, illegal logging and rapid
rubber expansion are destroying forest habitat that is essential for
wildlife, communities and the Myanmar economy.
It need not be this way. The global rubber market is shifting
towards sustainability with the two biggest mobility companies,
Michelin and General Motors, already committed to sourcing and
using sustainable rubber. Others will follow.
Myanmar has a great opportunity to transform its rubber sector
by producing sustainable rubber following a zero deforestation
approach. This will protect forests, improve the livelihoods of
communities, and contribute to the targets of the National Export
Strategy for rubber.
This comprehensive analysis will help stakeholders understand
the existing dynamics of rubber production and trade and
why it is critically important to transform the industry to benefit
both communities and environment. The tremendous effort by
CIRAD and Yezin University in undertaking this study is truly
commendable. The insights and data provided by the Ministry of
Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI), and the Myanmar
Rubber Planters and Producers Association (MRPPA) have been
invaluable in driving important conclusions.
This is the moment for Myanmar to become a leader in sustainable
rubber production, a decision that will be applauded by
generations to come..."
Source/publisher:
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Date of publication:
2017-08-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Biodiversity - Burma/Myanmar-related, Sustainable agriculture - Burma/Myanmar, Rubber plantations, The impact of natural disasters on the environment and people of Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.33 MB
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Description:
"As Myanmar?s junta prepared to step down from government, the military set about seizing public assets and natural resources to ensure its economic control in a new era of democratic rule. Guns, Cronies and Crops details the collusion at the heart of operations carried out by Myanmar?s armed forces in northeastern Shan State. Large swathes of land were taken from farming communities in the mid-2000s and handed to companies and political associates to develop rubber plantations. Our investigation reveals those involved, including Myanmar?s current Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, U Myint Hlaing, the country?s ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Sein Wut Hmon, a rubber company which collaborated with the former military junta to gain control of land. These revelations come as Myanmar?s government finalises the drafting of a national land policy, the country?s first. The report documents the toxic legacy of these land grabs on an already marginalised ethnic-minority population, for whom little has changed since the country?s much-lauded transition to civil democracy in 2011. Villagers told Global Witness that they had received no compensation and are struggling to earn a living and feed their families without land to grow food..."
Source/publisher:
Global Witness
Date of publication:
2015-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2015-10-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land confiscation for military, commercial and other purposes, Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Rubber plantations
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
817.7 KB 1.15 MB 49.85 KB
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Description:
"As Myanmar?s junta prepared to step down from government, the military set about seizing public assets and natural resources to ensure its economic control in a new era of democratic rule.
Guns, Cronies and Crops details the collusion at the heart of operations carried out by Myanmar?s armed forces in northeastern Shan State. Large swathes of land were taken from farming communities in the mid-2000s and handed to companies and political associates to develop rubber plantations.
Our investigation reveals those involved, including Myanmar?s current Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, U Myint Hlaing, the country?s ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Sein Wut Hmon, a rubber company which collaborated with the former military junta to gain control of land.
These revelations come as Myanmar?s government finalises the drafting of a national land policy, the country?s first.
The report documents the toxic legacy of these land grabs on an already marginalised ethnic-minority population, for whom little has changed since the country?s much-lauded transition to civil democracy in 2011. Villagers told Global Witness that they had received no compensation and are struggling to earn a living and feed their families without land to grow food..."
Source/publisher:
Global Witness
Date of publication:
2015-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2015-03-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land confiscation for military, commercial and other purposes, Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Rubber plantations, Shifting ("swidden", "jhum", "taungya") cultivation - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf
Size:
5.38 MB
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Description:
"Myanmar central government and military authorities have
long supported rubber production as
a strategic industrial agricultural crop for export to earn foreign exchange. The history of rubber
cultivation is
important to consider in order to better understand the newly emerging political
economy of rubber in the country during the current transition period.
Rubber has been
cultivated in Myanmar since the British colonial period in the early 20th
century, mostly in Mon
State.
These ?traditional? rubber growing areas in Mon State mostly comprise smallholder
rubber plantations that have greatly contributed to the livelihoods of Mon households.
Since the
past decade, however,
a new ?untraditional? frontier area has been targeted for rubber plantation
development. In
northern Myanmar in
Kachin State,
northern Shan State,
and eastern Shan State,
especially including
the
Wa Self
-
Administered
Region,
rubber concessions have swept across the
hills in areas that
were formerly swidden fields. While rubber in Mon State, Kayin
State,
and
Tanintharyi
Region
follows more of a smallholder model approach
but which
is
mostly
embedded in Chinese rubber markets with Chinese middlemen, rubber development in northern
Myanmar follows a private large-scale concessionary model mostly financed by Chinese
investment
from China?s national opium substitution programme.
In the past few years
new areas
yet again
in Myanmar
are
being targeted by
large-scale
rubber concessions, this time where
smallholder rubber farms already exist,
such as
in
Rakhine State,
Mon State, Kayin State,
and
northern
Tanintharyi
Region.
Local government officials, regional
military
commanders, and non-state armed groups have
allocated rubber concessions through rubber-growing areas in Myanmar over the past decade.
These concessions are located in what the government labels
?wastelands?, often in the uplands, which in fact are farmed by local households as ?taungya? (shifting cultivation) plots.
Therefore,
rubber development in Myanmar that follows the agro-industrial model,
are
causing
serious
impacts
on local farmers? subsistence livelihoods, as
is the case with
other industrial agricultural
|
concessions. Rubber concessions in former customary swidden fields seriously impact local food
security and
resource access
to forests and agro-fields, while rarely providing
adequate
alternative livelihoods
through wage labour employment
for local populations.
New agricultural
wage labour migration for large-sca
le rubber concessions, especially in the new production areas
in northern Myanmar, is introducing new socio-economic and political tensions to farming
communities..."
Kevin Woods
Source/publisher:
Global Witness
Date of publication:
2012-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2014-12-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rubber plantations
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
964.46 KB
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Description:
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in December 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Hpa-an District, between November and December 2012. The report details the concerns of villagers in T?Nay Hsah Township, who have faced significant declines in their paddy harvest due to bug infestation. The community member also raises villagers? concerns regarding the cutting down of teak-like trees by developers, for the establishment of rubber plantations. The report describes how this activity seriously threatens villagers? livelihoods, and takes place via the cooperation of companies and wealthy individuals with the Burma government. The report goes on to detail demands placed upon villagers by the Border Guard Force (BGF) to contribute money to pay soldiers? salaries. Though the community member reports that these demands are not as forcibly implemented as in the past; villagers still face threats if they do not comply. Many villagers in the area, however, have chosen not to pay the money requested of them by the BGF.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2013-03-29
Date of entry/update:
2013-05-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rubber plantations, Border Guard Forces (BGF) in Karen State, Deforestation, Border Guard Forces (all states)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
128.52 KB
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Description:
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in July 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Nyaunglebin District between January and June 2012. Specifically discussed are Tatmadaw demands, including new gold mining taxes imposed by Light Infantry Battalion #264 and their demands for sentries, and the construction of a bridge inside Na Tha Kway village, which has displaced many villagers without providing compensation. This report also includes information about 400 villagers who gathered together on March 12th to protest the construction of Kyauk N?Ga Dam on the Shwegyin River in Hsaw Htee and Ler Doh townships; the opening of a Karen Nation Union (KNU) liaison office in Ler Doh town on April 9th, during which over 10,000 villagers awaited government officials; the arrival of representatives from the Norwegian government to the internally displaced persons (IDP) area in Mu The; and a visit by a United States Senator on May 29th in Ler Doh town and subsequently in Nay Pyi Daw. The report also describes work and food security problems in Nyaunglebin, where some villagers have migrated to neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia for employment, or to work in Yangon?s growing entertainment industry. The community member spoke with villagers in the area who expressed overall satisfaction with the peace and ceasefire process, and they hope that it will continue to be stable.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2012-10-17
Date of entry/update:
2012-11-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Rubber plantations, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
437.85 KB
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Description:
The junta is working closely with China to push rubber production in northern Burma, but small-scale farmers are getting bounced around so the rich can tap the market...
"Shwe pyu—white gold—is the name for unprocessed rubber in Burma, and the regime is handing out land concessions for rubber production that are as valuable as gold to wealthy, well-connected businessmen. But for small-scale farmers in northern Burma, shwe pyu is as far beyond their reach as gold in the remote Hukawng Valley..."
Zao Noam
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 6
Date of publication:
2010-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-08-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rubber plantations
Language:
English
more
Description:
this issue focuses on how the expanding influence of Chinese interests in the Golden Triangle region, from rubber plantations to wildlife trading, is bringing rapid destructive changes to local communities. There are also articles on opium cultivation, mining operations, the mainstream Mekong dams in China, and unprecedented flooding downstream.....
Mekong Biodiversity Up for Sale:
A new hub of wildlife trade and a network of direct buyers from China is hastening the pace of species loss...
Rubber Mania:
Scrambling to supply China, can ordinary farmers benefit?...
Drug Country:
Another opium season in eastern Shan State sees increased cultivation, mulitple cropping and a new form of an old drug...
Construction Steams Ahead:
A photo essay from the Nouzhadu Dam, one of the eight planned on the mainstream Mekong in China...
Digging for Riches:
An update on mining operations in eastern Shan State...
Washed Out:
Unprecedented flooding wreaks havoc in the Golden Triangle.
Source/publisher:
Lahu National Development Organization (LNDO)
Date of publication:
2009-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-04-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rubber plantations, Threats to the fauna of Burma, Dams and other projects on the Mekong and its tributories
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.59 MB
Local URL:
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