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Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

Myanmar is renowned for its wealth of biodiversity. The country’s ecosystems include marine and coastal ecosystems in the south west and south, complex estuarine mangroves in the Ayeyarwady Delta to diverse terrestrial tropical forests on the prominent plateaus running north to south and alpine and grassland on high mountains with snow capped peak in the far north. The most northern part of Myanmar, which is the southeastern part of Himalayas, is considered to be a transitional zone between eastern and western Himalayas and is also known as a biodiversity hot spot in the world. The following ecosystems have been recognized in Myanmar: forest ecosystem, mountain ecosystem, dry and sub-humid land ecosystem, estuarian mangrove ecosystem, inland freshwater ecosystem, grassland ecosystem, marine and coastal ecosystem, and small island ecosystem. A number of habitats, including marine and coastal lines, are home to many wild plant species in Myanmar. Most of species belonging to vertebrate and invertebrate fauna have been recorded and include 256 mammals, 1,050 birds, 100 reptiles, 119 amphibians, 409 marine fishes and 100 insect species. A large genetic diversity is found in Myanmar in the wild as well as in domesticated varieties, and serves as an important basic source for various consumptions by people. Forest genetic resources are vital to the large portion of population in Myanmar mainly for food and other needs. In agriculture sector, rice and cereal crops are the largest genetic resources. Main threats to biodiversity in Myanmar include legislative gaps, complex related socio-economic issues, improper land use, unsustainable agricultural practice, low education and awareness level of local communities, poverty, poaching and hunting, lack of proper land use policy.

Number and Extent of Protected Areas

Myanmar has established 45 protected areas, 3 of which are marine protected areas.

Percentage of Forest Cover

Myanmar’s forests occupy 32,222,000 ha and other wooded areas occupy 10,834,000 ha.

Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

Ex. Situ Conservation: Ex situ conservation facilities are established at Yezin, under the Department of Agricultural and Research, Ministry for Agriculture and Irrigation. 13,046 accessions for 28 crop species were collected and 9,005 accessions have been fully characterized and placed under cold storage. In addition, a Biodiversity Museum has been established in Hlawka National Park.

Education and Public Awareness: In the curriculum of the Basic Education level, there are biodiversity related sections mainly in lessons concerning biology and / or knowledge of the environment. In higher education, formal courses relevant to biodiversity conservation are still limited to a few schools. New courses being offered include B.Sc Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Environmental Studies and Microbiology. Also available are B.Sc Forestry, agriculture, Botany and Zoology courses, which are usually the jump-off courses to more specialized fields like taxonomy, genetic, pharmacology, agronomy, ecology, entomology, crop science, and plant breeding, among others. In recent years government has been carrying out dissemination activities related directly or indirectly to biodiversity. These include painting contest, photo contests, TV programmes, documentaries and the celebration of several days e.g World environment Day, International Biological Diversity Day, Earth Day, Tree Planting Month and so forth. In addition, the Ministry of Forestry produces a quarterly forestry magazines and pamphlet. Periodicals issued by some magazine producer include biodiversity topics, and editors invite writers to write about environment and biodiversity related issues. Environmental Education Centers have been established in Hlawka National Park and Popa Mountain Park.

Initiatives in Access and Benefit Sharing

Prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms are being practiced in various sectors, particularly for scientific research purposes, in which MOUs or MOAs are major instruments. There is no specific capacity building programme, but some projects have relevant components to build institutional capacity.

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

Community Forestry Instructions (CFI) have some provisions to respect the knowledge, innovations and practices of local communities. CFI have been practiced since 1995 to encourage local communities to establish forest plantations by using their traditional knowledge and expertise.