Deforestation in Myanmar

Black and white photograph of logging in Myanmar taken by a Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation official during British rule.

Deforestation in Myanmar (otherwise known as Burma) led to a reduction in forest cover from 70% of the country in 1948 to 48% by 2014.[1][2] Myanmar possesses the largest expanse of tropical forest in mainland Southeast Asia, which contains high biodiversity.[3] As of 2010, Myanmar's living forest biomass held 1,654 million metric tons of carbon and over 80 endemic species.[2]

Under British rule, Myanmar's forests were logged for timber on an industrial scale for the first time. After independence, commercial logging greatly expanded under the military government of Ne Win. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, Myanmar lost 19%, or 7,445,000 hectares (28,750 sq mi), of its forest between 1990 and 2010.[4] In the 21st century, contributing factors to deforestation in Myanmar include continued timber extraction, illegal logging, agricultural expansion, land disputes and civil conflict. Deforestation has increased amidst the escalation of civil war following the 2021 coup d'état.

  1. ^ Seekins, Donald (21 August 2006). Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810854767.
  2. ^ a b "Myanmar Forest Information and Data". mongabay.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  3. ^ Bernard, Stéphane; Rodolphe De Koninck (1996). "The Retreat of the Forest in Southeast Asia: A Cartographic Assessment". Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 17 (1): 1–14. Bibcode:1996SJTG...17....1B. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9493.1996.tb00080.x.
  4. ^ "Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 Country Report: Myanmar" (PDF). Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.