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Library Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar

Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar

Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar

Resource information

Date of publication
December 2017
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
MLRF:2342
Pages
1257-1270

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar’s forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar’s social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Cosier, Martin
Phelps, Jacob
Thaung_Naing_Oo, _
Win_Hlaing, _
Whitten, Tony
Fogerite, Julia
Speechly, Hugh
Aguirre, Daniel
Wilson, Trevor
Williams, Guy
Hurd, Jack
Diment, Alex
Prescott, Graham W.
Dapice, David
Momberg, Frank
Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich
Baird, Matthew
Than, Maung Maung
Lynam, Antony
Springate-Baginski, Oliver
De Alban, Jose Don T.
LaJeunesse Connette, Katherine
Cheng_Ling_Lim, _
Than_Myint, _
Connette, Grant M.
Salai_Cung_Lian_Thawng, _
McCarthy, John F.
Steinmetz, Robert
Bowman, Vicky
Talbott, Kirk
Fox, Jefferson
Myat_Su_Mon, _
Aye_Chan_Maung, _
Oberndorf, Robert
Webb, Edward L.
Lasmana, Felicia
Zrust, Michal
Kyaw_Min_Thein, _
Sutherland, William J.
McCarron, Benjamin
Rao, Madhu
Shwe_Thein, _
Tint_Lwin_Thaung, _
McShea, William J.
Saw_Htun, _
Woods, Kevin
Tizard, Robert
Brunner, Jake
Ziegler, Alan D.

Geographical focus