Myanmar Forest Policy 1995.

The Myanmar Forest Policy 1995 formalizes the commitment and intent of the Government in ensuring sustainable development of the forest resource both for environmental and economic purposes. The document identifies six imperatives, namely: Protection, Sustainability, Basic Needs, Efficiency, Participation, and Public Awareness. These are called imperatives because without the attainment of these, the broader national goals and objectives would be jeopardized. Therefore, each of them must receive the highest government priority. The objectives identified are: Land Use; Protection and Management; Forest Regeneration and Afforestation; Forest Industry, Marketing and Trade; Forest Research; Forestry Planning; Intersectoral Coordination; Institutional Strengthening; Budget and Finance; People’s Participation and Public Awareness.
The achievement of these objectives is dependent on a series of policy measures and the adoption of identified strategies/actions in the short, medium and long terms. Most urgent among these relate to preparation of a land use policy; reclassification of unclassed forests as forest reserves and protected areas system; introduction of environment pricing based on the “polluter pays” principle; establishment of plantation cooperatives; abolishing of concessional pricing and price control; promotion of private investment in wood-based industries; and strengthening of forestry institutions.
From the foregoing, it is clear that forest sector development and its long-term sustainability is constrained due to lack of close interaction with other sectors of the economy and the lack of a holistic vision which takes cognizance of sustainable development as an imperative in all policies and the resource conservation as a major goal along with provision of employment, income and food security.