New Delhi (Mizzima) – After decades of extensive and largely unregulated logging, many forests in Northern Burma’s Kachin state are nearly barren, resulting in a warming climate, according to local environmentalist.
Awng Wa, Chairman of the Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG), said heavy logging in the state by both government authorities and businessmen has resulted in severe deforestation and other phenomenon, causing permanent climatic change.
According to him, Army officials and businessmen in Kachin state persist in logging and transporting teak and other forest products to China, as the business is lucrative.
“Almost all the forest along the Sino-Burmese border has disappeared and it has become dry. The climate is increasingly warmer now as there are no more big trees in our state. Almost all have been cut down,” said Awng Wa.
The KDNG works inside Kachin state, documenting human rights violations as well as the impact of logging on the forest and natural ecology.
According to local residents and sources in the business circle, the lucrative logging business has been flourishing for decades, with most timber transported to China’s Yunnan Province.
And it is the Burmese military in the area which profits most from the exploitation of the land, as they control the right to log and demand a huge amount of money from businessmen for permits, local businessmen said.
“They [junta] receive millions [US$ 1 = 1,100 kyat] in bribes from timber businessmen for getting permits,” said a local resident of Laiza town on the Sino-Burmese border.
The local, who is closely associated with timber businessmen, said the Burmese military junta’s Northern Commander, posted in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state, alone demands more than 100 million kyat per company for a logging permit.
While commanders are occasionally rotated, the system continues in much the same way with businessmen paying for the right to log. However, these permits are not legal; only proof of an understanding between the authorities and the businessmen in question.
“Junta officials have become rich through this business, but nothing has improved for the local people. It is mainly the Chinese traders and the military officials that benefit,” said the resident.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burmese border based analyst, said deforestation in Kachin state is mainly due to the heavy logging done by officials of the military junta, Chinese traders and individuals from armed ceasefire groups.
“I see at least 40-50 trucks carrying timber and crossing the Sino-Burmese border every night,” he said.
“If you come and visit these areas, you will find that most forest has gone and there are now mountains with no trees,” he added.
According to a businessman, forest areas are sold to businessmen per square mile by officials of the military junta.
Junta’s officials, including former Northern Commander Kyaw Win, reportedly sold off over 100 miles squares of forest to businessmen for logging, Aung Kyaw Zaw added.
Similarly, he said other commanders who came after Kyaw Win, including Maung Muang Swe and Ohn Myint, had sold off many areas of forest.
But government officials are not the only group to turn a profit from the business. Local residents and businessmen say the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO), an armed rebel group based in the state along the Chinese border, are also profiting from the business.
According to locals, KIO officials also sell areas of forest that fall under their control to make money.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, however, remarked, “I don’t know if the KIO as a group is indulging in the business, but what is definite is individual officers of the KIO do have logging businesses running.”
Aung Kyaw Zaw added that the officers themselves enter the business as it provides some extra income.
Similarly, other armed groups such as the New Democratic Army – Kachin (NDA-K) are also reportedly involved in the enterprise.
Even many local residents are forced to cut down trees and sell them to China in the absence of other alternative means of providing for themselves and their families.
“At this time, I have difficulty in finding a job and I have no choice, so this is the only way to get more money and support my family,” said a local resident, who earns about 100,000 kyats [approximately US$ 100] per month from trading timber.
However, he said small businessmen several problems, as the area is infested with Burmese military authorities and several armed rebel groups that each collect money for right of passage to the Chinese border.
“In this business, we have to invest a large amount of money to bribe the authorities as well as other groups,” the local explained.
As for Awng Wa, who sees the situation from an environmentalist’s point of view, the forests and nature in Kachin state have little left to offer the people, leaving the future of the state’s environment – and its inhabitants – in a critical situation.
