Myanmar to reduce timber production to prevent forest depletion
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The Myanmar forestry authorities have planned to reduce timber production and export during this fiscal year of 2010-11, which began in April, as part of its bid to prevent forest depletion, according to commerce circle Sunday.
A latest survey has indicated that the country's forest covered area has depleted 14 percent from the existing 60 percent in 1975.
Sunday's local media 7-Day attributed the depletion to excessive production of timber by private companies.
Myanmar have many kinds of natural forests such as freshwater forest, salt-water forest, pine forest, deciduous forest, evergreen forest and so on.
In 2008-09, the country exported 600,000 tons of woods, earning about 40 million U.S. dollars.
As its other efforts to prevent forest depletion, the Myanmar authorities have also been implementing some reforestation projects by granting local private companies to grow teak and hardwood with land allotted for them for the purpose since 2005.
Moreover, the Myanmar authorities have been drawing a 30-year plan involving the participation of private companies.
Meanwhile, foreign organizations such as Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Japanese Kokusai Kogyo Corporation, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) are also providing assistance for further improvement of Myanmar's forestry sector.
According to the National Commission for Environmental Affairs (NCEA), the rate of forest depletion in Myanmar in 2000-2005 is amounted up to 466,000 hectares, standing as the fourth most forest depleting country in the world after Brazil, Indonesia and Sudan.
There are 155,340 square-kilometers of reserve forests and protected public forests in Myanmar with 52,650 hectares of forest plantations, statistics show.
Myanmar, the major exporter of teak in the world, takes up 75 percent of the world market.
