The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation under U Ohn Win has distributed about 13 million plants nationwide ahead of the next rainy season as part of greening efforts.
We need to make efforts to nurture the plants we planted last year and to grow more trees in the 2020 rainy season.
Meanwhile, as the country progresses on the path to development, we would also need to extract timber. About 83 per cent of the country’s population relies on forests, and if the country does not allow extraction of timber, it will be done illegally. Legal sales of timber would benefit the country.
Sagaing Region especially has a large forest cover, and so timber should be extracted in the region in accordance with the 2019-2020 plan. In the four years under the incumbent government, the size of forests in reserve areas is two times larger than seen in the past 28 years. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation has set a target of bringing 2.27 millions acres under community forests in 30 years, and so far 28 per cent, or 653,000 acres, of the target has been met. The number of community forest groups has increased from 2,065 before the incumbent government by 2,866 today, totaling 4,931.
The ministry is planning to borrow US$200 million from the World Bank for afforestation.
To earn an income from the country’s natural resources, mining should be allowed in accordance with Section 16 of the Forest Law while forest plantations are re-established.
As part of the crackdown against timber smuggling, the authorities seized 165,511.3 tons of timber and 11,045 pieces of machinery, and arrested 23,610 smugglers, including 59 foreigners, in the 45 months since the incumbent government took office in March, 2016.
From October to November in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, more than 4,434 tons of timber was seized along with 357 machines and over 560 smugglers were arrested.
The Myanma Timber Enterprise is a major contributor to the national economy. It owns saw mills and suitable assistance should be provided to them. But if we extract timber, we must take care to carry out afforestation. The afforestation in the country’s arid regions has seen progress.
Over-extraction and illegal logging have resulted in deforestation and poor-quality timber, but new initiatives should be carried out in accordance with the law to get the industry back on track.
GNLM
