Logging B Forestsi \.:r*? •••• .-*•;.-»? Resources anUhe • ••• -i. •5'-.-' •at*'* •:;•*.••• i^^^HL^. Logging Burma's Frontier Forests: Resources and the Regime Jake Brunner KirkTalbott Chantal Elkin WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE August 1998 Carol Rosen Publications Director Deborah Farmer Managing Editor Hyacinth Billings Production Manager Nic Dunlop/Panos Pictures Cover Photo Each World Resources Institute Report represents a timely, scholarly treatment of a subject of public concern. WRI takes responsibility for choosing the study topics and guaranteeing its authors and researchers freedom of inquiry. It also solicits and responds to the guidance of advisory panels and expert reviewers. Unless otherwise stated, however, all the interpretation and findings set forth in WRI publications are those of the authors. Copyright © 1998 World Resources Institute. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-56973-266-3 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 98-86983 Printed in the United States of America on Recycled Paper. LOGGING BURMA'S FRONTIER FORESTS Contents Acknowledgments v 5. Kachin State: A Frontier Forest 21 5.1 Analysis of Satellite Data 21 Acronyms vi 5.2 Patterns of Forest Clearing 22 5.3 Environmental Impacts 24 Major Findings vii 6. The Role of the International Community 27 1. Introduction 1 6.1 Conflicting Views of International 1.1 Physical Geography 1 Engagement 27 1.2 Human Development 2 6.2 Limited Opportunities for International 1.3 Recent Political and Economic History 2 Engagement 27 2. The State of Burma's Forests 5 7. Conclusions and Recommendations 29 2.1 Timber Production 5 2.2 Protected Area Management 7 About the Authors 31 2.3 Deforestation Rates 9 2.4 Community Forestry 10 Endnotes 33 3. Burma's Timber: Supply and Demand 13 References 35 3.1 The SLORC's Economic and Security Policies 13 Appendix A. Technical Notes 37 3.2 Regional Timber Trade 13 Appendix B. Maps 41 4. Logging Burma's Borders 17 4.1 Thai-Burmese Border 17 4.2 Chinese-Burmese Border 18 LOGGING BURMA'S FRONTIER FORESTS Acknowledgments Several sources have been particularly useful in the of environmental and political conditions in Kachin production of this report, notably publications by the State; Carter Brandon, from the World Bank; and Aion- Forest Department in Rangoon; the BurmaNet News tay, who, like many others, provided valuable informa- Service;1 the Far East Economic Review; Burma Debate, tion but did not wish to be identified. published by the Open Society Institute; books and arti- cles by Bangkok-based journalist Bertil Lintner; and For- Three nongovernmental organizations, the Institute eign Economic Trends 1996, by the U.S. Embassy in Ran- for Asian Democracy; EarthRights International (ERI), goon.2 Principal sources are listed at the end of this a human rights and environmental law group based in report in the References section. Bangkok; and the Southeast Asian Information Network (SAIN), a human rights group based in Chiang Mai A draft copy of the report was sent to the Forest De- played an important role in the preparation of the re- partment for review, and in October 1997, one of the au- port. In particular, we thank Tyler Giannini and Steve thors (J.B.) traveled to Rangoon to discuss the draft. Chojnacki of ERI and Faith Doherty of SAIN for their None of the major findings of the report was challenged. contributions. Department staff were prepared to discuss general is- sues regarding protected areas management and com- We also thank our colleagues at the World Resources munity forestry but refused to discuss logging in the Institute—Walt Reid, Bob Repetto, Nigel Sizer, Nels border areas. Johnson, Dirk Bryant, Dan Tunstall, Blake Ratner, Mairi Dupar, Carmen Revenga, Bob Livernash, and Peter The authors thank Dave Skole, Bill Salas, Mike Zollinger for reviewing early drafts of this report. Routhier, and Peg Shea, from the University of New Special thanks are extended to Frances Seymour, who Hampshire, for their analysis of the satellite data of made a major contribution to the Conclusion and Rec- Kachin State; Steven Johnson, from the International ommendations section, and to Daniel Nielsen, who was Tropical Timber Organization in Yokohama, Japan, for responsible for map preparation and statistical analysis providing the latest figures on the regional timber trade; of the satellite data. Kachin-American Friends, Inc. (USA), for their analysis Finally, we thank the Danish Royal Ministry of For- 1 eign Affairs, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign To subscribe to BurmaNet, send the command "subscribe Affairs, and the Avina Foundation for their generous burmanet-1" to "[email protected]". financial support. 2 Unlike economic assessments by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund published in 1995, Foreign Eco- nomic Trends corrects for the systematic distortions introduced J.B. by the dual exchange rate and other errors and omissions that K.T. appear in official statistics. C.E. VI LOGGING BURMA'S FRONTIER FORESTS Acronyms AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution NDA New Democratic Army Radiometer NGO Nongovernmental organization CPB Communist Party of Burma NLD National League for Democracy ERI EarthRights International NMSP New Mon State Party FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations SAIN Southeast Asian Information Network GDP gross domestic product SLORC State Law and Order Restoration Council HT Hoppus ton SPDC State Peace and Development Council IMF International Monetary Fund TM Thematic Mapper ITTA International Timber Trade Agreement TREES Tropical Ecosystem Environment Observations by Satellite ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization UMEH Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings IUCN World Conservation Union UNDP United Nations Development Programme KIO Kachin Independence Organization UNEP United Nations Environment Programme KNU Karen National Union UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund LAC Local Area Coverage wcs Wildlife Conservation Society MSS Multi-spectral Scanner WRI World Resources Institute MTE Myanma Timber Enterprise WWF World Wildlife Fund for Nature NCGUB National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma LOGGING BURMA'S FRONTIER FORESTS VII Major Findings 1. Burma holds half of the remaining forest in mainland 6. Satellite data show that forest clearing in Kachin State Southeast Asia. Having lost virtually all of their origi- more than tripled between 1978-1989 and 1989-1996, nal forest cover, Burma's neighbors—China, India, and that logging is responsible for almost half the de- and Thailand—rely increasingly on Burma as a forestation. Kachin State holds one of the region's last source of timber. Most of the regional timber trade is large tracts of relatively undisturbed forest. The rapid illegal. fragmentation of this forest, and the biodiversity con- servation and watershed protection it provides, is of 2. The rate of deforestation in Burma has more than national and international concern. doubled since the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the military regime that rules the 7. Opinion is divided on whether the international com- country, came to power in 1988. munity should engage the regime to support forest conservation in Burma. Only limited opportunities 3. Increased deforestation is primarily due to a rapid exist for the international community to provide ef- growth in logging in Burma's border areas. Timber fective support to local communities or to the Forest exports have helped pay for the regime's arms pur- Department, or to engage the regime through chases and a doubling in the size of the army. Burma's signatory status to international agreements. 4. Seventeen of the 20 ethnic minority armies, many of 8. Under current political circumstances, there is no which have been in insurrection since independence scope for direct engagement by the international com- in 1948, have negotiated cease-fires with the regime, munity. It is therefore recommended that an indepen- but not peace agreements. The current situation of dent satellite-based forest monitoring system be es- "no peace, no war" has encouraged unbridled log- tablished to report on the state of Burma's forests, ging in some of the border areas. that environmental issues be included in the interna- tional dialogue about how to influence the regime, 5. Wasteful and destructive logging by the regime, some and that the international community take advantage of the ethinic minorities, and foreign companies along of international agreements to request information the borders with China and Thailand has resulted in from the regime about forest management and timber extensive deforestation that has caused massive soil production. erosion, sedimentation of rivers, increased flooding, and acute dry season water shortages in some areas. LOGGING BURMA'S FRONTIER FORESTS 1. Introduction Burma holds more than half of mainland Southeast management to ensure the implementation of policies Asia's closed forests—forests that have caused the that will be respected and supported by the population. country to be called "the last frontier of biodiversity in Asia" (Forest Department, 1997b).1 Yet these forests are The report is divided into seven parts. Chapter 2 pre- not inexhaustible resources. Deforestation is increasing, sents bibliographic and statistical data describing and an analysis of current satellite data shows that Burma's forest types, documents the intensification of Burma's remote frontier forests are now threatened. Al- commercial timber production since 1962, and outlines though agricultural conversion,