Myanmar: Fallen Timber, Uneasy Officials

May 30, 2016 | Mratt Kyaw Thu, Frontier
View Original

As conservationists welcome reports that the government is considering a one-year national logging ban, sections of the timber industry have been preparing for such a move for months. Loggers stopped felling trees in the vast forests of remote and rugged eastern Kayah State about three months ago, and their only activity since then has been transporting logs to a timber collection depot in the state capital, Loikaw. The reported proposal to halt logging from May 31 has left those who make a living from the country’s diminishing forests, including loggers and the owners of trucks hired to haul logs out of the jungle, worried about the future.