Preface

Myanmar’s Red List of Ecosystems is a tool to understand our threats and plan for conservation and sustainable management. Forests constitute the dominant ecosystems in Myanmar, and we are blessed with high forest cover (42.92%) and diversity, with 36 of our 64 ecosystems identified as forest and mangrove. These forests and biodiversity underpin a range of ecosystem services which are central to Myanmar’s sustainable development, supporting human and resource needs, and contributing to a more stable climate. The loss of forests and our biodiversity leads to degradation and deterioration of ecosystem services and threatens Myanmar’s irreplaceable ecological heritage.

We often discuss ecosystem services but this study documents Myanmar’s terrestrial ecosystem typology and spatial distribution for the first time. This is one of the first ecosystem red lists developed within ASEAN and this will inform our implementation for decades to come to inform legislation, land-use planning, protected area expansion, monitoring and reporting, and ecosystem management. To sustain our forests and our biodiversity we need to sustainably manage all of these incredible ecosystems.

This report has supported Myanmar to reach Aichi Biodiversity Target 14: Ecosystems and essential services safeguarded under Myanmar’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2015-2020); especially Target 14.1: By 2020, a rapid national ecosystem assessment has been carried out, identifying the status, values and trends of key ecosystems and the services they provide; Action 14.1.1: Quantify trends and pressures in the status of ecosystems and species populations that provide key ecosystem services, including distinct ecological and hydrological units such as the Ayeyarwady River Basin; and Action 14.1.2: Identify and map (using GIS) key ecosystem services through desktop analyses and participatory consultations involving multiple stakeholder groups, including, marginalized poor and vulnerable groups. These actions will support the Forest Department to reduce loss and restore degraded natural habitats, through sustained land use management and take action against those committing unlawful environmental damage to conserve and protect terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine areas through integrated resources planning and effective and equitable management.

Myanmar will use the Red List of Ecosystems to mainstream the protection of our environmental and biodiversity dividend into a range of planning and decision making. Whether on land, above ground or under water, a range of policy safeguards, legal protections and enforcement mechanisms will be deployed to ensure that unsuitable and destructive practices are phased out and replaced with more environmentally conscious approaches. Myanmar will also ensure that individuals and communities, including those most vulnerable, are included in decision-making processes at all levels.

This book will build a stronger foundation for achieving our Forest Policy and Sustainable Development Plan by 2030 and inform our actions for the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Nyi Nyi Kyaw, PhD
Director General
Forest Department
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation