Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T07:26:22.121Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Forest cover change patterns in Myanmar (Burma) 1990–2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2005

PETER LEIMGRUBER ,
DANIEL S. KELLY ,
MARC K. STEININGER ,
JAKE BRUNNER ,
THOMAS MÜLLER  and
MELISSA SONGER
PETER LEIMGRUBER*
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA
DANIEL S. KELLY
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA
MARC K. STEININGER
Affiliation:
Conservation International, 1919 M Street, NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA
JAKE BRUNNER
Affiliation:
Conservation International, 1919 M Street, NW Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA
THOMAS MÜLLER
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA
MELISSA SONGER
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA
*
*Correspondence: Dr Peter Leimgruber Tel: +1 540 635 6559 Fax: +1 540 635 6506 e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Myanmar is one of the most forested countries in mainland South-east Asia. These forests support a large number of important species and endemics and have great value for global efforts in biodiversity conservation. Landsat satellite imagery from the 1990s and 2000s was used to develop a countrywide forest map and estimate deforestation. The country has retained much of its forest cover, but forests have declined by 0.3% annually. Deforestation varied considerably among administrative units, with central and more populated states and divisions showing the highest losses. Ten deforestation hotspots had annual deforestation rates well above the countrywide average. Major reasons for forest losses in these hotspots stemmed from increased agricultural conversion, fuelwood consumption, charcoal production, commercial logging and plantation development. While Myanmar continues to be a stronghold for closed canopy forests, several areas have been experiencing serious deforestation. Most notable are the mangrove forests in the Ayeyarwady delta region and the remaining dry forests at the northern edge of the central dry zone.

Keywords

biodiversitychange detectiondeforestation ratesforestforest dynamicsLandsat
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 356 - 364
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, M. (2000) The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER): data products for the high spatial resolution imager on NASA's Terra platform. International Journal of Remote Sensing 21: 847–859.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunner, J., Talbot, K. & Elkin, C. (1998) Logging Burma's frontier forests. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA: 56 pp.Google Scholar
Bryant, R.L. (1997) The Political Ecology of Forestry in Burma, 1824–1994. London, UK: C. Hurst & Co.: 257 pp.Google Scholar
Davis, S.D., Heywood, V.H. & Hamilton, A.C., eds. (1995) Centres of Plant Diversity: a Guide and Strategy for their Conservation. Volume 2: Asia, Australasia and the Pacific. Cambridge, UK: IUCN Publications Unit.Google Scholar
Eberhardt, K. (2003) A review of challenges to sustainable development in the uplands of Myanmar. In: Landscapes of Diversity: Indigenous Knowledge, Sustainable Livelihood and Resource Governance in Montane Mainland Southeast Asia. Proceedings of the III Symposium on MMSEA 25–28 August 2002, Lijiang, P.R. China, ed. Jianchu, Xu & Mikesell, S., pp. 101–111. Kuming, P.R. China: Yunan Science and Technology Press.Google Scholar
Eames, J.C., Htin, Hla, Leimgruber, P., Kelly, D., Sein Myo, Aung, Saw, Moses, & Saw, Nyunt Tin (2005) The rediscovery of Gurney's Pitta Pitta gurneyi in Myanmar. Bird Conservation International 15: 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (2001 a) Global forest resources assessment 2000: main report. FAO Forestry Paper No. 140, Rome, Italy [www document]. URL http://www.fao.org/forestry/fo/fra/main/index.jspGoogle Scholar
FAO (2001 b) Woodfuel production and marketing in Myanmar. Regional Wood Energy Development Programme Report No. 56, FAO, Bangkok, Thailand.Google Scholar
FAO (2003) State of the world's forest. FAO, Rome, Italy: 100 pp. [www document]. URL http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/10168/enGoogle Scholar
Friedl, M.A., McIver, D.K., Hodges, J.C.F., Zhang, X., Muchoney, D., Strahler, A.H., Woodcock, C.E., Gopal, S., Schnieder, A., Cooper, A., Baccini, A., Gao, F. & Schaaf, C. (2002) Global land cover from MODIS: Algorithms and early results. Remote Sensing of the Environment 83: 287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Global Witness (2003) A conflict of interest. The uncertain future of Burma's forests. Global Witness, London, UK: 126 pp. [www document]. URL http://www.globalwitness.org/reports/show.php/en.00046.htmlGoogle Scholar
Koy, K., McShea, W.J., Leimgruber, P., Haack, B.N. & Myint, Aung (2005) Percent canopy cover – using Landsat imagery to delineate habitat for Myanmar's endangered Eld's deer (Cervus eldi). Animal Conservation 8: 289–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leimgruber, P., Gagnon, J.B., Wemmer, C., Kelly, D.S., Songer, M.A. & Selig, E.R. (2003) Fragmentation of Asia's remaining wildlands: implications for Asian elephant conservation. Animal Conservation 6: 347–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leimgruber, P., Christen, C.A. & Laborderie, A. (2005) The impact of Landsat satellite monitoring on conservation biology. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 106: 81–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loveland, T.R., Reed, B.C., Brown, J.F., Ohlen, D.O., Zhu, J., Yang, L. & Merchant, J.W. (2000) Development of a global land cover characteristics database and IGBP DISCover from 1-km AVHRR Data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 21: 1303–1330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynam, A.J. (2003) A national tiger action plan for the Union of Myanmar. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, USA: 57 pp.Google Scholar
Matthews, E. (2001) Understanding the FRA 2000. Forest Briefing 1: 1–12.Google Scholar
McShea, W.J., Leimgruber, P., Aung, M., Monfort, S.L. & Wemmer, C. (1999) Range collapse of tropical cervid (Cervus eldi) and the extent of remaining habitat in central Myanmar. Animal Conservation 2: 173–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McShea, W.J., Myint, Aung, Poszig, D., Wemmer, C. & Monfort, S.L. (2001) Forage, habitat use, and sexual segregation by a tropical deer (Cervus eldi thamin) in a dipterocarp forest. Journal of Mammalogy 82: 848–857.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moran, E., Brondizio, E. & Mausel, P. (1994) Integrating Amazonian vegetation, land-use, and satellite data. Bioscience: 44: 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myint, Aung (2006) Policy and practice in Myanmar's protected area system. Journal of Environmental Management (in press).Google Scholar
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rao, M., Rabinowitz, A. & Saw Tun, Khaing (2002) Status review of the protected area system in Myanmar, with recommendations for conservation planning. Conservation Biology 16: 360–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sader, S.A., Powell, G.V.N. & Rappole, J.H. (1991) Migratory bird habitat monitoring through remote sensing. International Journal of Remote Sensing 12: 363–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steininger, M.K. (1996) Tropical secondary forest regrowth in the Amazon: age, area and change estimation with Thematic Mapper data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 17: 9–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steininger, M.K. (2000) Satellite estimation of tropical secondary forest above-ground biomass: data from Brazil and Bolivia. International Journal of Remote Sensing 21: 1139–1158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steininger, M.K., Tucker, C.J., Townshend, J.R.G., Killeen, T.J., Desch, A., Bell, V. & Ersts, P. (2001) Tropical deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon. Environmental Conservation 28: 127–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tordoff, A.W., Eames, J.C., Baltzer, M.C., Davidson, P., Leimgruber, P., Uga, U & Than, U Aung (2006) Myanmar: investment opportunities in biodiversity conservation. Birdlife International, Yangon, Myanmar (in press).Google Scholar
Tucker, C.J. & Townshend, J.R.G. (2000) Strategies for monitoring tropical deforestation using satellite data. International Journal of Remote Sensing 21: 1461–1471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, C.J., Grant, D.M. & Dykstra, J. (2004) NASA's global orthorectified Landsat data set. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 70: 313–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, W., Spector, S., Gardiner, N., Fladeland, M., Sterling, E. & Steininger, M. (2003) Remote sensing for biodiversity science and conservation. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution 18: 306–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNEP (1995) Land cover assessment and monitoring Myanmar, UNEP/EAP, TR/95-06. UNEP Environment Assessment Programme for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand.Google Scholar
Wikramanayake, E., Dinerstein, E., Loucks, C., Olson, D., Morrison, J., Lamoreux, J., McKnight, M. & Hedao, P. (2001) Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press: 643 pp.Google Scholar