INDONESIA

Myanmar Bans Raw Timber Exports

"The Myanmar government has announced it will completely ban the export of raw timber starting in April next year."

The Myanmar government has announced it will completely ban the export of raw timber starting in April next year.

The huge increase in deforestation, which has halved the country’s remaining forest areas in the past decade, has been cited as the official reason for the ban.

Under the new ruling raw exports will be totally banned, and logging for domestic use will be greatly reduced.


Following the government’s decision to issue a ban on timber exports, Saw Win Naing’s job as a bulldozer driver in Myanmar’s teak industry is now in jeopardy.
 
Q. “How do I feel about the news?
A. I feel have to find a new job.
Q: What kind of job?
A: Well, only what I am familiar with; or I have to go home.

He’s been working here for 8 years.

And has two little sons – one is three, and the younger is one and half.

He says that in the good old days workers received bonuses from the company.

But after years of constant production the work has dried up and he has a lot of free time on his hands…

“I did not have much time before. But now we have a lot of time off, four or five months.”

Illegal logging, slash and burn tactics, ethnic wars and overproduction have ravaged the country’s forests.

Nearly a decade ago forests covered half of Burma, now they only cover a quarter of the country.

Logger Shell Phaw has been working in the industry for 20 years and has seen dramatic changes. 

“It is not easy to find big trees nowadays. They can be found only on higher locations or mountain cliffs.”

Shell Phaw has eleven members in his family and they all depend on his income.

“Both sides are depending on me, we are struggling.”

And he has another big friend, an elephant, to take care of.

“In the forest she eats bamboos, tubers and bulbs. She doesn’t need special care from me. But I have to look after her food at home.”

But environmentalists and the government say the ban on wood exports is needed to protect the country’s remaining native animals…
 
Myanmar is home to elephants, bears, tigers and hundreds of bird species.

The government says the ban will allow for a greater focus on exporting finished wood products.

Min Thein runs a company that sells quality wood products.  He says new investment in the market will create more jobs.

“The ban is beneficial for our industry. And it is also good for workers in the country.”

Myanmar is a major exporter of teak, accounting for 75 percent of the global market.

But Min Thein says that finished wood products will bring in more money than raw timber exports.

“The income will increase three or four times-- because the scheme is to sell quality wood products - not raw teak.”

Min Thein says the sanctions imposed on the country by western governments severely limited production and he was forced to close two factories.

But now he is optimistic about the future of his business.

“I think that within six months after this ban on (exporting) raw teak, I may be receiving new orders, and the situation will be even better within one year.”

But bulldozer driver Saw Win Naing will have to find other work…

“The brainstorming is underway. We are discussing other options in case this job goes.”

However fellow logger Shell Phaw has high hopes of what the new investments will bring.

“I hope the industry of finished goods will also be better for us. And there will be a room my elephant too.”

The government’s ban on timber exports is a vital step for Myanmar’s environment policy. 

But unless new jobs are created for those who worked in the industry, thousands of people could struggle to find work.

• Burma
• Myanmar
• forest
• timber
• DVB