Resource information
Lots of maps...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. (See The Regional Timber Trade in Southeast Asia.)
The rate of deforestation in Burma has more than doubled since the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the military regime that rules the country, came to power in 1988. (See Timber Production in Burma and The State Law and Order Restoration Council.)
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. (See Deforestation Rates in Burma.)
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. (See The Chinese-Burmese Border.)
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. (See The Thai-Burmese Border.)
Satellite data show that forest clearing in Kachin State more than tripled between 1978-1989 and 1989-1996, and that logging is responsible for almost half the deforestation. Kachin State holds one of the region's last large tracts of relatively undisturbed forest. The rapid fragmentation of this forest, and the biodiversity conservation and watershed protection it provides, is of national and international concern. (See Kachin State: A Frontier Forest.)
Opinion is divided on whether the international community should engage the regime to support forest conservation in Burma. Only limited opportunities exist for the international community to provide effective support to local communities or to the Forest Department, or to engage the regime through Burma's signatory status to international agreements. (See The Role of the International Community and Community Forestry.)
Under current political circumstances, there is no scope for direct engagement by the international community. It is therefore recommended that an independent satellite-based forest monitoring system be established to report on the state of Burma�s forests, that environmental issues be included in the international dialogue about how to influence the regime, and that the international community take advantage of international agreements to request information from the regime about forest management and timber production...
