[Myanmar] Indonesia, Burma Increase Cooperation In Forestry

Environment Minister U Win Tun met his Indonesian counterpart, Zulkifli Hasan, to discuss cooperation in the forestry sector on Wednesday in Naypyidaw, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday. But rather than discuss forest preservation or environmental issues, the pair talked about how best to let Indonesian firms create teak plantations. Land rights conflicts in Indonesia due to the vast spread of plantations, mostly palm oil, have led to many deaths at the hands of the security forces and police. Indigenous people are routinely evicted from their lands to make way for the companies with little compensation.