Mangrove deforestation in Myanmar is the clearing of mangrove forests, usually for commercial uses or resources extraction, which is occurring mainly in 3 different regions: Rakhine State, Ayeyarwady Mega Delta, and Tanintharyi Division. While large areas of mangrove forests remain, the deforestation rates of these forests have been increasing due to anthropogenic influences such as economic pressures to overexploit and expand the aquaculture and agricultural industry. There are also natural threats that contribute to mangrove deforestation such as soil erosion. There has been recent increased attention to conserve and restore these forests through rehabilitation projects and policies.
These mangrove forests are important to the country’s economy, climate and biodiversity. The Burmese people, especially the rural communities are heavily dependent on the resources from the mangrove forests for a living. Mangrove forests also help ameliorate negative impacts from natural disasters and are home to many different types of flora and fauna that thrive specifically in these ecosystems.
History of deforestation
Mangroves used to be more common but currently mainly grow in 3 different regions: Rakhine State, Ayeyarwaddy Mega Delta, and Tanintharyi Division. The mangrove forests in the Ayeyarwaddy Mega Delta are the largest but are also the most affected by human actions.
The annual rate of deforestation between 1975-2005 was highest in Myanmar in the Southeast Asian region. Some researchers determined that between 2000 and 2012, forests were deforested at a rate of 0.18% a year, which is about 250,000 acres of land. Remote sensing was used to detect deforestation of mangrove forests in Myanmar because it was hard for international research communities to do field studies in Myanmar. Remote sensing showed that deforestation was occurring at a faster rate than regrowth can occur.
Reasons for deforestation
Large areas of mangrove forests are cleared to plant rice fields, expand aquaculture, or to collect palm oil. Aquaculture was previously thought to be the only big contributor of mangrove change but it only accounted for 30% of mangrove deforestation with rice and agriculture contributing 38% together. A Balmford et al. study showed that many countries convert mangrove forests to aquaculture when the economic value of mangrove forests is usually higher than the economic value of shrimp farming. Thus the study suggested that it is more cost effective for countries to preserve their mangrove forests.
Other reasons for deforestation are urban development, mining, salt pan development and overexploitation of resources. Natural threats to mangrove forests include erosion, land loss, inundation, sea flooding, upstream movement of the saline/freshwater front, and seawater intrusion into freshwater lenses. Studies show that the biodiversity and area of mangrove forests declined after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008.
Importance of mangrove forests
Mangrove forests play a major role in Myanmar’s economy since it provides natural resources for both personal and commercial uses. Poorer rural communities that have settled near the mangrove regions are particularly dependent on these ecosystems for resources and sources of income. Thus a depletion of mangrove forests will harm the poorer rural communities the most economically.
Mangrove forests also ameliorate the negative impacts of natural disasters such as cyclones and storms by stabilizing shorelines. Research shows that if there were less deforestation of mangroves, the death toll would have been lower when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008.
Mangrove forests also provide other climate benefits. They create protected zones where young fish and other marine life can grow and thrive. They also protect coastal communities from flooding during storm surges. Mangrove forests also greatly contribute to ameliorating global warming because they are carbon dense and they recycle greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into oxygen, which is beneficial for humans and other living creatures.