The Impact of Land Cover Changes on Socio-economic Conditions in Bawlakhe District, Kayah State

Abstract

In many regions of Myanmar, there is a close relationship between people and forests. A 2010 UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report found that 70% of Myanmar's total rural population, or approximately 30 million people, depend heavily on forests for their basic needs, and 500,000 people rely on forests for their employment (FAO 2010). However, according to the same study, between 1990 and 2010, a total of 7,445,000 ha, equivalent to 19.0% of Myanmar's total forest area, had been cleared. This gives Myanmar the seventh highest deforestation rate in the world (FAO 2010). Forested land cover prevents soil depletion and erosion, sediment deposition in streams and rivers, and decline of biodiversity (Cunningham/Cunningham 2006). As such, changes in land cover have significance at global, regional and local levels (Lambin et al. 2001; Turner et al. 1990). Often a combination of economic, institutional, and political factors drive deforestation, including logging, agricultural expansion, infrastructure expansion, shifting cultivation and the extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and fuel wood (EIA 2015; Geist/Lambin 2001). In Myanmar, timber is an important export that occurs through both legal and illegal channels, especially hard woods such as teak. One recent study found that Myanmar exports 1.6 million tonnes of teak annually to neighboring countries such as India, China, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia (EIA 2015).