According to Sassan Saatchi of Caltechs Jet Propulsion Lab and Colleagues, there are about 32,222,000 ha hectares or 49 of forests in Myanmar. An average of 372,250 ha or 0.95% of forest have been lost annually between 1990 and 2010. The organization states that within the period of 20 years (1990-2010), around 7,445,000 ha or 19.0% of the total forest has been cleared in Myanmar. Myanmar is one of the top ten countries that are happening highest deforestation rate in the world, and its rank is seven.
The Rangoon-based Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) alerts that Myanmar is meeting a deforestation crisis because of natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, drought and fires), human activities (logging, dam building, slash-and-burn agriculture, cutting trees for fuel, mining operations, clearing land for livestock grazing and oil extraction) and overpopulation. If deforestation cannot be controlled by government, the result could be very disastrous. It has negative impacts on environmental degradation, and it can cause direct biodiversity loss.
Exporting timber and increasing population are the main causes of deforestation in Myanmar. The Global Witness Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) manipulated that Myanmar shipped at least 1 mil.cu.m (million cubic meters) of timber into China in 2002. According to Central Statistical Organization, the government exported 864,000 metric tons of timber and got US$600 million from it between 2010 and 2011. Moreover, UNFAO reports that around 70% of rural populations of Burma or at least 30 million rely on forests for their basic needs in 2009. The government and people do not aware that if they cut a lot of trees for their profits, it will affect on ecosystem, and a lot of natural disasters will happen in Myanmar.
The purpose of this paper is to show causes and effects of deforestation in Myanmar. In particular, the impact of climate changes is very serious problem in Myanmar due to deforestation. This paper will discuss the plans of the government to solve these problems, and it will also provide some possible suggestions to protect the forests.
1.0 Causes
The meaning of deforestation is cutting, clearing and removing trees for various reasons such as logging, slashing-and-burning agriculture and building dam (West, 2012). Sometimes, natural disasters can destruct forests. For instance, Cyclone Nargis destroyed a lot of trees in Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008.
Myanmar is developing country, so the government and people are extremely depend on forests. They cut down a lot of trees for various reasons, but the main point is for short-term economic benefits (Putatunda, 2011). The government exports a lot of natural resources to other countries, but a lot of money is got by exporting timber. According to the parliamentary Natural Resources and Environment Conservation Committee, Myanmar exports a lot of teaks by legal or illegal. The London-based Environment Investigation Agency (2012) claims that Myanmar exported 1.6 million tones of teak per year to neighboring countries such as India, China, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia.
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Figure 1. Main log suppliers to India (ITTO, 2011)
The agency states Myanmar got $5.7 billion by exporting 18 mil.cu.m of wood log between 2000 and 2010. In Myanmar, almost 1.98 mil.cu.m of hardwood and 283,000 cu.m of teak are used per annual. In the same way, Davyth Stewart (2012) claims that Indonesia earns more than $8 billion per year by exporting illegal timber. As a result, cutting a lot of trees for exporting is threatening not only Myanmar forests, but also forests of other countries.
Overpopulation also affects on forests. In Myanmar, the population is increasing approximately one million annually. According to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact book (2012), the population of Myanmar is 54,584,650 in 2012. UNFAO mentions that 70 percent of the Myanmar people live in rural area, and they rely on forests for their basic needs, sustenance and income. Similar to Indonesia, people who get less than US$ 1 cut trees to get a few income for short-term.
Population
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Year
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Figure 2. Population in Myanmar (CIA World Fact book, 2012)
Deforestation can be caused by natural disasters. In Myanmar, forest fire is one of the main problems to destroy forests. Myanmar lost up to 10 tons of forest fuel because of forest fire. As a result, every 30 to 70 tons of top forest soil are destroyed in Myanmar. Myanmar is facing natural disasters such as cyclones, landslides, earthquakes, tsunami, fire and drought. They are threatening Myanmar’s environment.
Effects
Burning trees and clearing forest affect on environment. A lot of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide emit in to the atmosphere because of deforestation. Hence, the temperature of global is rising, and climate changes and soil erosion happen in Myanmar.
2.1 Climate Changes
A lot of natural disasters are threatening Myanmar’s forests such as cyclones, earthquakes and floods (Moe, 2009). Cyclone Nargis destroyed trees and livelihood of people more than earthquake and floods. Cyclone Nargis was the top deadliest and most caustic tropical cyclones to ever strike Myanmar. UNFAO predicts that more than 37 townships and 2.4 million people were affected by Cyclone. According to official figures, 53,800 people were missing, and 84,500 people were killed. It destroyed a million acres of rice paddies ,and it also killed three-fourths of the livestock with its seawater surges.
2.2 Soil Erosion and Soil Fertility Loss
In Myanmar, deforestation can cause soil erosion, and the government cannot control it yet. Consequently, the agricultural products of Myanmar are falling. Dr Htun Winn, the manager of the Myanmar Rice Research Centre in Hmawbi township, Yangon Division (2007) states that the fertility of the soil will reduce if the surface soil is eroded, and it can turn agricultural land into desert land. If soil erosion cannot be preserved, it will lead to become flood, nutrient depletion, ecological, social and economic problems.
Solutions
A lot of natural disasters are threatening people in Myanmar. Most disasters are caused by deforestation. The government has three plans to reduce deforestation. First of all, they will completely ban exporting timber to other countries in 2014 (Boot, 2012). However, it is difficult to stop illegal logging and exporting timber to China. The reason is China’s border is very close with northern part of Myanmar. Most poor indigenous people are relying on forest for their basic needs. Therefore, although the government does not allow people to cut trees, they may continuously do it. However, illegal logging and exporting timber to other countries are slightly reducing due to this strategy.
The second is reforestation. Every June or July, the government orders to plant trees in the whole country. The government of China also uses this method. In China, the government has dictated that its citizen between the ages of 11 and 60 must plant five trees annually. Hence, in China, people have been planted at least one billion trees since 1982 because of this plan. Although this method is successful in China, the government of Myanmar does not get a lot of benefit from it since after planting trees, nobody look after them. In their mind, their responsibility is just planting trees.
The last strategy is collaboration with UN organization. It established The National Commission for Environment Affairs(NCEA) which purpose is to support the environmental protection and reduce the environmental degradation. The government expects this collaboration can prevent deforestation in Myanmar.
The best solution is giving job to poor people. If they have enough money for their basic needs, they will not destroy the forests. They will not care how many natural disasters happen, and how many rules the government announce because money is more important than retaining the environment for them.
Furthermore, recycling and reusing items are also the best solution to protect the forests. For instance, industries are using a lot of bamboos to produce paper. If people reuse the recycling paper, it may reduce destroying bamboos. These solutions may decline deforestation in Myanmar.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Myanmar was covered a lot of forests in the past, but nowadays, forests are significantly decreased. Exporting teaks and overpopulation are the main causes of deforestation in Myanmar. Myanmar is developing country, so the budgets of the government depend on exporting teaks to other countries. Nearly 283,000 cu.m of teaks and 1,98 0,000 cu.m of hardwood are used for exporting in Myanmar per year. Increasing population is also the main problem. Approximately one million people are increasing annually. Most of them are poor, so they rely on forests for their basic needs. By destroying forests, a lot of greenhouse gases emit into the air. As a result the temperature is rising, and it affects on climate and soil of Myanmar. By changing climate, a lot of natural disasters are happening in Myanmar such as Cyclone Nargis, earthquakes, floods and drought. Cyclone Nargis destroyed a lot of trees and affected more than 2.4 million people, and it was nightmare for people. Now, Myanmar does not have a lot of quality soil for agriculture due to deforestation. The government is trying to solve deforestation with three plans. They are to bar exporting timber, to replant the trees and to collaborate with UN organisation. Reducing unemployment and recycling and reusing items may also prevent destroying the forests. If the government cannot control deforestation, a lot of natural disasters will occur in Myanmar. If there are not enough trees, the temperature will be higher and higher, and the death rate of people will sharply increase in hot season. Health problems and economy problems will also happen. If there are no trees, animals cannot survive. If there are no animals, all people also cannot survive. By maintaining the environment, the world will be beautiful.
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