SAVING THE FOREST IN KACHIN STATE, THE UNION OF MYANMAR

DONE BY:

MON MON PHYO

STUDENT ID: 17640082

• LEARNING THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF

DEFORESTATION, AND WAYS TO SAVE THE FORESTS AND

ADVANTAGES OF SAVING THEM

• SCIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY, AND INQUIRY IN AUSTRALIAN

CURRICULUM

• UNDERSTANDING WORLD-WIDE ISSUES IN

DEFORESTATION AND SAVING FORESTS

WHY THE PROBLEM IS SO IMPORTANT?

DESPITE THE GOVERNMENT OF MYANMAR HAS ENACTED A FOREST POLICY

WHICH EMPHASIS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT (MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AND

FORESTRY [MOECAF], 2009), THE FOREST AREA IS DIMINISHING (LEIMGRUBER,

KELLY, STEINNGER, BRUNNER, KKER & SONGER, 2005, P.2). THEREFORE, IT IS

IMPORTANT TO LEARN THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION, AND

EDUCATE THE LOCALS THE ADVANTAGES OF SAVING FORESTS?

INQUIRY PROBLEM

Diminishing the area of forests in spite of enacting the forest policyGreat impact on environmental problems (weather and climate changes)Scope and focus of this inquiry – causes and effects, ways to save forests, and leaning advantages of saving forests.Further action: To educate the locals ways to save the forests and the advantages brought by saving forests.

CONSIDERABLY CRITICAL TOPIC

IndividualCommunityWorld-wide issues of environmental science

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

• WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION IN TROPICAL RAINFORESTS AND IN

KACHIN STATE?

• HOW DOES DEFORESTATION EFFECT THE ECOLOGY SYSTEM?

• HOW CAN SAVING FORESTS BENEFIT THE ECOLOGY SYSTEM?

• WHAT SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES WERE ADOPTED BY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IN

SAVING FOREST AND WHICH STRATEGIES WILL BE ABLE TO USE IN CONSERVING

FORESTS IN KACHIN STATE?

• WHAT ARE THE RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES IN REFORESTATION?

DECREASE IN FOREST AREA

Forest area in Myanmar is 442 000 km2 in 1990s (Leimgruber et al., 2005, p.3). The deforestation rate in Kachin State is 0.2%. (Leimgruber et al., 2005, p.4).

So what are the causes of deforestation?

Figure 1. “Forest cover loss in Myanmar between 1973 and 2009”(Macqueen, 2013, p.6)

1. CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION

2. EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION

•180 metric tons of carbon is yielded from each area of tropical forest

(Urquhart, Chomentowski, Skole & Barber, 2001)

•Unbalance the carbon cycle in the atmosphere (Urquhart et al., 2001)Carbon stock

•Evaporation and transpiration process (Urquhart et al., 2001)

•Absorbing more heat causing rise in temperature (Urquhart et al., 2001)Hydrological cycle

•Losing homes for many species(Urquhart et al., 2001)

•Extinction to many species (Urquhart et al., 2001)Biodiversity

3. SAVING FORESTS BENEFIT THE ECOLOGY SYSTEM

Saving from natural

disasters

The Cyclone Nagis,

Myanmar

The mangrove forests

prevented the sea surges (

Springate-Baginski as cited in Macqueen, 2012, p.12)

4. SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED PLANS TO SAVE FORESTS

Understanding soil types and weather condition in

saving forests

Iron-rich, dark red soil which is vulnerable to erosion if it

is unprotected by forest cover (Baroang, 2013, p.10)

Annual rainfall 1670 millimeter, mean temperature 18.7

C, humidity 71.1% (Department of meteorology and

hydrology, 2007)

Forests in Kachin state: subtropical moist forests,

hill forests, alpine forests (Olson & Dinerstein as

cited in Thaung, 2007, p.271).

Rice, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, tobacco, teak and

so on … successfully grown in Kachin State

(Baroang, 2013, p. 10)

5. RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES IN REFORESTATION

Harvest

consideration

Leaving

snags and

cavity trees

Longer rotation

on plants

Avoiding clear

cutting

Considering on

species compositio

n

Favoring native

species over

exotics

Retaining plants species

which provides

mast, fruit, nectar or

cavity resouces

CONCLUSION

1) Logging, farming, population growth, wood extraction, industrialization, and urbanization

are the main causes of deforestation.

2) Negative impacts on ecosystem, greenhouse effect and global warming, decreasing the

fertility of soil are the consequences of deforestation.

3) Kachin forests are important for balancing the hydrology cycle and carbon stock,

protecting the soil, preserving biodiversity, and preventing natural disasters. Therefore, it

is important to educate the locals to know the advantages they can get from saving forests

and ways to save the forests.

4) Selective logging and conserving forest scheme in the Lobeke national park, Congo Basin,

can be adopted in saving forests in Kachin State.

5) By adopting recommendation about harvesting are mentioned in the inquiry, locals can

solve problems for their basic needs and they can save the forests at the same time.

MY REFLECTION

I know basically about the important of forests andconserving them can have positive impact onecosystem. However, it is wonderful to learn thathaving financial support by selling carbon credit andhow the forests prevents the natural disasters.Therefore, it is important to save the forests. Mostimportantly, locals should know about theimportance of forests and the benefits they can getby saving forests. My inquiry leads me to visit ruralareas in Kachin State to learn the ideas from localsabout saving forests. Then, the ideas can be sharedand used in the implementation of saving Kachin

REFERENCES

Baroang, K. (2013). Myanmar bio-physical characterization: summary findings and issues to explore (Background paper no.1, Earth Institute at Columbia University) Retrieved from http://fsg.afre.msu.edu/Myanmar/Myanmar_branded_Background_paper_1%20_Biophysical_Characterization.pdfDepartment of meteorology and hydrology. (2007). Climatological data at selected stations (S0101). Retrieved from http://www.myanmar.cm/myanmardata2007/s0101.htmlLeimgruber, P., Kelly, D. S., Steininger, M. K., Brunner, J., Müller, T., & Songer, M. (2005). Forest cover change patterns in Myanmar (Burma) 1990–2000. Environmental Conservation, 32(04), 356-364.Macqueen,D.Recommendation for a market-led approach to community forestry in Myanmar.Macqueen, D. Advancing forest-farm producer groups in Myanmar within market-led community forestry.Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (2009). Forest Policy (2009). Retrieved from https://www.moecaf.gov.mm/user page2.aspx?mid=11Thaung, T. L. (2007). Identifying conservation issues in Kachin State. MYANMAR, 101.Urquhart, G., Chomentowski, W., Skole, D., & Barber, C. (2001). Tropical deforestation. NASA Earth Observatory, www. earthobservatory. nasa. gov (accessed fall 2004).Zapfack, L., Noumi, N., & Zemagho, L. (2013). Deforestation and Carbon Stocks in the Surroundings of Lobéké National Park (Cameroon) in the Congo Basin. Environment and Natural Resources Research, 3(2), p78.

THANK YOU!!