Cooperation from INGOs, NGOs welcomed for ecosystem revamp
Source: The Global New Light Of Myanmar
Date: 21 March 2018
Photo: Google
As part of efforts to conserve Myanmar's ecosystem, the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry has initiated discussions with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to obtain funds from the Green Climate Fund.
Today we are all fairly clear about the issues facing the long-term sustainable management of Myanmar's ecosystem, including the country's coastal resources and the need for coordinated collective action to address them. This is not only for the long-term interests of Myanmar, but for the interests of the global environment as a whole.
With the increasing population, excessive production of resources for short-term benefits, lack of knowledge on the value of the socio economy and weakness in management, there has been a deterioration of the resources of the coastal regionand the ecosystem.
Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and the worst flood in decades in 2015 alerted the country to launch conservation of its environment.
During the past decades, mangrove forests, coral reefs and marine grasslands have been destroyed, studies show. With climate change, the sea level is rising, and natural disasters are taking place with more frequency. This causes coastal resources to deteriorate. Due to the rising sea level, housing areas and growing lands will also be ruined.
The coastal areas of Tanintharyi, Ayeyarwady and Rakhine are abundant with coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, mudflats, estuaries and sand dunes, and they all play an important role in the people's socio-economic development and environmental diversity. More specifically, they are vital for the development of the agricultural, forestry, 0fishery and tourism sectors.
Mangroves are an important asset in dealing with global climate change. They are being damaged by people clearing areas of mangrove forests for prawn breeding, using small-scale explosives for catching fish, mining, waste disposal and oil spills. Deforestation and chemicals from pesticides and herbicides also decrease the layers of alluvial soil along the coast.
In carrying out preventive work against climate change, it will be necessary not only to build infrastructure but also to conserve the natural infrastructure – mangrove forests, coastal forests and coral reefs.
To conserve the Myanmar's ecosystem and to fulfill the basic needs of the people, the Union Government has been implementing a ten-year project for reestablishing the country's forests from the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year to the 2026-2027 Fiscal Year.
To make the project a success, we need cooperation from international non-governmental organizations and local non-governmental organizations while we overcome the challenges ahead by "learning by doing".
