Cross-border illegal logging and timber trade in the Indian state of Manipur, and Myanmar: causes, actors, routes and volumes

Abstract

HIGHLIGHTS • There is currently large-scale illegal importation of hardwoods from the Sagaing region and the Chin state of Myanmar into Manipur, India. • Multiple illegal entry points through which illegal timber flows are inhabited by the Naga and Thadou-Kuki tribes, two major ethnic tribes of Manipur. • Rampant collusive corruption is prevalent in order to facilitate illegal logging involving insurgents, army and forest officials, and the police. • Corruption, poverty of the people living in border areas, conflicts, and weak institutions and governance are key factors that facilitate illegal logging. • A conservative estimate of the volume and value of illegally imported timber from Myanmar stands at 100 000 m3 and US$ 40 million annually. SUMMARY The study examines the nature of illegal logging and the timber trade taking place on the international border of Manipur State (India) and Myanmar. The study underlines the causes, the actors, the volumes and value, and the routes of illegal logging and timber trade. Acknowledging the complexity of the research theme as illegal logging involves mafias, insurgents, forest officials, and highly influential traders, the researchers carried out unstructured, clandestine, confidential, and anonymous surveys and interviews of loggers, traders, drivers, village chiefs, forest officials, etc. to understand the dynamics of illegal logging and timber trade. The study finds rampant collusive corruption involving ethnic-based insurgent outfits, which are in talks with the government, forest officials, police, army and village chiefs. Other factors such as poverty, conflict, weak governance, and complexities of frontier space are driving illegal logging and trade. The complete ban on log export and logging in Myanmar has resulted in the setting up of many veneer and plywood industries in Manipur and her neighbouring states, Nagaland and Assam, as large-scale illegal logging takes place in the Sagaing region and the Chin state of Myanmar bordering Manipur (India) due to porous and ungoverned border areas resulting in Manipur becoming a hotspot for the illegal timber trade.