More than 3,200 Forestry Department staff overseen by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation have been subject to disciplinary action over the past seven years, department director U Khin Maung Win said, adding that the problem is largely a result of under-funding. They were disciplined for violations including bribery and corruption, negligence, misconduct, […]
Myanmar’s milling industry devastated by new logging policies
August 10, 2018 by
According to domestic media reports in Myanmar, about 80 percent of Burmese logging mills have shut down amid stricter logging policies. Myanmar recently ended a one-year ban on domestic logging for export on anything other than certified and stockpiled wood. The government logging oversight entity, Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE), claims a drastic reduction in the […]
Mandalay airport joins war on wildlife trade
June 6, 2018 by
In an effort to crack down on illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife, staff at Mandalay International Airport attended a course in how to identify and classify wildlife parts if carried by passengers. Over 100 airport staff, security personnel and customs officials received training provided by the Forestry Department and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Myanmar, […]
Environment ministry may resume teak production in ’18
February 28, 2018 by
The Ministry of Resources and Environmental Conservation hopes to resume teak production from an agricultural estate planted by the Forestry Department this year. A workshop to assess the situation of teak plantations that are 30 years or older was held in Nay Pyi Taw on Sunday. “We first tested teak production in 2012-13. We didn’t […]
Myanmar struggles to fight the crimes of illegal logging
November 9, 2017 by
• Illegal logging uses the same mechanisms employed by organized crime, yet enforcement agents in Myanmar must use environmental protection laws to combat smuggling. • During a series of seizures in January of this year, the forestry department seized hundreds of tons of illegally logged teak bound for China. • One of the key witnesses […]
Government to Tackle Legal Timber Docs
December 6, 2016 by
Timber exporters are scrambling to respond to the conviction in a Swedish court of a company accused of importing Myanmar teak without sufficient proof that it was legally traded. The importer, Almatra Nordic, had been prosecuted under the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which bans placing illegal or high risk wood on the EU market. The company had […]
Govt to Ban Timber Harvest in Pegu Yoma Mountain Range
July 14, 2016 by
RANGOON — In the Pegu Range, home to some of Burma’s major forests, the harvest of timber will undergo a 10-year hiatus starting in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, according to Aye Cho Thaung, deputy general manager of the country’s Forestry Department. The Pegu Range, also known as Pegu Yoma, is a series of low mountains […]
Breeding of edible nest swiftlets thriving in Myeik
May 18, 2016 by
WITH the price of edible birds’ nests rising, the number of breeders of edible nest swiftlets (Collocalia fuciphaga) has increased along Kanna Road in Myeik Township. Edible nest swiftlets are induced into making nests using bird-noise techniques at houses along the Strand Road in Myeik. This breeding business has become popular in the region, and […]
