[Myanmar] Officials Urge Ban On Burmese Logging

[News_Editor]

Burma’s Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Committee urged on Wednesday a total ban on logging after reporting that forests now cover only a fifth of the country’s land area. The government-appointed body said that Burma’s forest coverage has declined dramatically in recent years, from 51 percent in 2005 to 24 percent in 2008, with further decreases since then. It said that the main causes of deforestation are logging—both legal and illegal—and increased use of firewood. Seventy-five percent of the world’s teak comes from Burma, most of it going to neighboring countries.

Source: Irrawaddy.org