Getting to the roots of Burma’s latest timber export trade...

They had been rooted in Burma’s soil for many years, some of them for more than a century. Then the heavy excavation machinery moved in—and the trees moved out, across the border to China. Some Burmese nature lovers say the trees will be homesick, but for Burmese and Chinese entrepreneurs they just represent money. Lots of money...

(Press release): "... Ending the destruction of Burma’s northern frontier forests" , details shocking new evidence of the massive illicit plunder of Burma’s forests by Chinese logging companies. Much of the logging takes place in forests that form part of an area said to be “very possibly the most bio-diverse, rich, temperate area on earth.”

Despite the all-out efforts currently being made by the Myanmar Government to conserve and improve its forest resources, forest degradation and depletion are continuing at an alarming rate, mainly due to shifting cultivation, agricultural encroachment and illicit cutting. The heavy reliance on woodfuel has eroded its supply source in numerous areas and it is clear that unless urgent remedial measures are undertaken the more accessible forests will soon be exhausted and remote areas will have to be exploited instead, involving rising market prices.

A major resource. Several articles on Burma (use the Search and Info by country). Extremely good links page: NGOs, Intergovernmental Sites, Research Institutes; Other links. "The World Rainforest Movement is an international network of citizens' groups of North and South involved in efforts
to defend the world's rainforests. It works to secure the lands and livelihoods of forest peoples and supports their
efforts to defend the forests from commercial logging, dams, mining, plantations, shrimp farms,
colonisation and settlement and other projects that threaten them...

ABSTRACT:
Some countries have gained control of their forest-exploiting industries through
advanced regulatory regimes. But stricter regulation usually displaces forestexploitation
into countries with weaker regulatory regimes. The most important
current example is the shift of forest-exploitation for the Chinese market from
China into Southeast Asia following the logging ban in China in 1998. In this
paper we describe and document the impact of the logging ban after the 1998

The Karen State of Kawthoolei has been heavily dependent on teak extraction to fund the Karen National
Union struggle against the Burmese military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Raymond Bryant explores the social and economic structure of Kawthoolei, and the way in which resource
extraction was more than simply a source of revenue � it was also an integral part of the assertion of Karen
sovereignty...

STATE OF MYANMAR’S FORESTS...
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MYANMAR-CHINA...
OVERLAND TIMBER TRADE...
EIA INVESTIGATIONS...
CHINA’S ROLE....."For at least two decades,
timber extracted from Myanmar’s precious frontier forests
in highly destructive logging operations has been flowing
into China unhindered. It is an illicit business worth hundreds
of millions of dollars a year, making it one of the single
largest bilateral flows of illegal timber in the world.
From the outside looking in, the cross-border trade

In Myanmar, as in other countries of the Mekong, it is widely acknowledged that the clearing of forests to
make way for the expansion of commercial agricultural fields is increasingly the leading driver of deforestation,
alongside legal and illegal logging, and the clearance of forest areas to make way for infrastructure projects
such as roads and hydropower dams. While the conversion of forests for agricultural development has been
occurring for many decades, it is the unprecedented rate of this conversion that is now so astounding — as

SUMMARY:
"Myanmar is one of the most forested countries in
mainland South-east Asia. These forests support a
large number of important species and endemics and
have great value for global efforts in biodiversity
conservation. Landsat satellite imagery from the
1990s and 2000s was used to develop a countrywide
forest map and estimate deforestation. The country
has retained much of its forest cover, but forests
have declined by 0.3% annually. Deforestation varied
considerably among administrative units, with central

... 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.

Summary: China’s trade in timber products with Myanmar grew substantially from 1997-2002, from 295,474 m3
(round wood equivalent, RWE) in 1997 to 947,765 m3 (RWE) in 2002. Despite increased volume,
timber product imports from Myanmar comprised only 2.5% of China’s total timber product imports
from 1997-2002. However, the small fraction of total imports masks two important features: i)
timber imports from Myanmar are primarily logged in slow-growing natural forests in northern

Working Paper No: APFSOS/WP/08
Forest Department, Ministry of Forestry, Myanmar