Publication: Myanmar Country Environmental Analysis: Forest Resources Sector Report
Date
2019-06-01
ISSN
Published
2019-06-01
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Myanmar's forest and timber sector
has been central to the country's economy and society,
particularly over the last century. Myanmar's forests
contain some of the most valued species in the
world—particularly rosewood, ironwood, and teak. Myanmar
also has one of the most longstanding forest management
systems in the tropics. Today, despite reduced timber
extraction revenues, wood industry still generates over 8
percent of formal government revenues. Beyond timber, rural
society largely depends on non-timber forest products
(NTFPs) and agroforestry for food, medicine, and wood fuel,
which is by far the most important energy source in rural
Myanmar, with between 60 percent and 80 percent of
communities relying on this source. Some of Myanmar's
forests also form some of the world's most critically
important biodiversity 'hotspots'. Despite all of
the progress made, there is still a lot of room for
improvement and for higher ambition. The report analyzes the
underlying challenges, builds on international best
practice, and makes recommendations. Some of the
recommendations include : create delivery mechanisms to
scale up CF within the PFE, despite high degradation of
production forests, sustainable forest management is still
viable in some areas but needs a critical stock-taking
effort, promote enabling environment for private
plantations, increase protected forests area to 10 percent
of total land area, and to implement the challenging reform
process, the FD will need additional skills, budget,
technology support, and civil society support.
Citation
“World Bank. 2019. Myanmar Country Environmental Analysis: Forest Resources Sector Report. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31891 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”