Ethnic minorities share information on deforestation

The average annual rate of deforestation is nearly 600,000 acres, and deforestation rates in the forested areas re higher than that in non-forested areas, said Tin Tun, director of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, at a workshop on knowledge-sharing among ethnic minority groups in programme to reduce emissions and deforestation in Asia. The workshop was held at the Horizon Lake View Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.

“Between 2010 and 2015, the deforestation rate in the forested areas was 1.38 per cent and 2.36 per cent in the non-forested areas,” he added.

“The main cause of deforestation is excessive timber extraction, illegal logging, increased use of firewood, the extension of agricultural areas, mining, hydropower projects, the construction of new roads and industrial raw material plantations such as palm oil, rubber and sugarcane in the forest. Deforestation rates in non-forest areas show that forest-related businesses have a big impact on the forests.”

Local ethnic minority groups play a crucial role in forest conservation work. The national land utilisation policy highlights their important role. In implementing emissions and deforestation reduction programmes, special emphasis is placed on the rights and the role of local ethnic groups through independent informing sharing and seeking public opinions.

For rural region development, the Forestry Department is working on the establishment of collective forests and a mixture of crops and forests. In addition, it is working to implement development programmes for locals living in the forests, draft land utilisation policies, place a ban on timber logging, eliminate illegal timber logging, develop a green economy and review standards and indexes set for forest administration.