BUSINESS – Environmentalists slam China timber policy
China’s proposed guidelines for timber trade are insufficient and should be replaced with a legally binding ban on illegal wood, environmentalists said. London-based Environmental Investigation Agency submitted recommendations to the[…]
Environment Lead Story Logging Natural resources News
Timber talks: Burma and China discuss logging
Talks held to support both countries’ interest in responsible, cross-border timber trade, say officials.
Environment Lead Story Logging News
China-Burma talks on illegal timber
In light of recent bust in Kachin state, officials meet to discuss the widespread illegal trade.
Business Environment Lead Story News
Timber merchants, China must cooperate if export ban is to succeed
Burma’s Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry announced six months ago that a ban on the export of raw timber will go into effect on 1 April 2014. The Myanmar Timber Merchants Association has requested that foreign timber merchants cooperate with the government to stop illegal exports.
Illegal Burmese timber still sold to China
Oct 21, 2009 (DVB), Deforestation in Burma continues to be a problem despite a drastic reduction in illegal timer exports into China, an environmental group has revealed. Illegal timber sales[…]
Military man caught with illegal timber
A search of the vehicle uncovered 246 planks of teakwood, weighing a total of just over one tonne.
Lead Story Natural resources News
Illegal loggers armed with swords seize confiscated timber
Forestry officials were forced by a group of men wielding swords and clubs to return confiscated timber.
Business Environment Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Cronies leave Burma ‘no longer resource rich in timber’
Burma is facing complete forest degradation unless it can clean up the crony economy.
DVB Debate Lead Story News Video
DVB Debate: ‘How troubled is Burma’s relationship with China?’
This week’s DVB Debate comes at a time when Sino-Burmese relations are under the microscope.
Black market banking brings billions from China
As the illegal trade in jade, timber and drugs along the Sino-Burmese border appears unstoppable, black market banks have become a major channel for laundering criminal assets.
Analysis Environment Lead Story News Politics
Will Burma’s timber ban curb or entrench corruption?
While the raw timber export ban is a step towards avoiding a regrettable transformation in one of Burma’s major industries, it may only work in tandem with more reforms that tackle the country’s deep-seated corruption.
Timber ban, effective in April, leads to wood export rush
Raw timber export is estimated to rise by 33 percent this year, in the lead-up to a nationwide ban on the commodity, according to the Myanmar Timber Merchants Association.
Burma and China affirm ‘strategic partnership’
China stresses importance of ensuring peace and stability along its Burmese border, while news surfaces that renewed clashes have broken out between Kachin rebels and govt forces.
Army ‘aiding’ illegal Burma timber trade
Burmese officials collecting bribes from timber smugglers despite evidence that illegal trade to China has dropped in recent years
From illegal timber to tiger skins, Myanmar is destroying its environment for a quick buck
Oct 14, 2007 (AP) – Truckloads of illegal timber cross the Myanmar border to sawmills in China, while markets along the Thai border openly sell bear paws, tiger skins and[…]
Arakan crisis dents Burma’s hopes of Western investment boom
Western trade and investment in Burma is small, but there were hopes that reforms would prise open an economy stunted by international sanctions and decades of mismanagement under military rule. That now appears to be on hold.
flora and fauna Lead Story News Pegu Division
The fight against elephant poaching in Pegu Range
Elephant poaching in Burma is on the rise amid an increasing demand for ivory and other products made from elephant parts, such as its skin, which is used in traditional medicine.
ASEAN Crime International Relations Lead Story News
ASEAN readies to boost fight against transnational crime
The first-ever regional centre set up to fight transnational crime in ASEAN and share information could be up and running by next year.
Govt, conservationists unveil elephant protection plan
A strategy to protect Burma’s wild and captive elephants well into the next century has been released by the government and international NGO’s.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
Burmese army captures 3 bases from Kachin rebels
According to the Burmese military chief’s office, the base in Mansi had been a major hub for smuggling timber and cattle to “a neighbouring country”.
Kachin Lead Story Logging News
Burma army to assist in tackling illegal logging in Kachin
Minister tells parliament plans are afoot to form a taskforce to crack down effectively on any logging operations in the area.
Foreign Affairs International Relations Lead Story Military News
US awaits Suu Kyi visit to decide on easing sanctions
The United States may consider easing sanctions on Burma following State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Washington later this month.
Government imposes logging ban, in latest bid to save forests
The move comes two years after an earlier effort to slow deforestation by banning the export of raw timber.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
Battle-ready rebels highlight Suu Kyi’s peace problem
Ending decades of ethnic conflict is one of the biggest challenges for the incoming government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has made it her first priority.
Kachin Lead Story News Politics
Like father, like daughter: A Kachin legacy
The daughter of former KIO leader Maran Brang Seng will enter the Kachin State parliament in February, to pursue her father’s struggle for a federal Burma.
Business Weekly 20 November
BUSINESS in BURMA THIS WEEK: Rangoon green lights second economic zone; tourism; development; sanctions; and timber industry news.
Feature Lead Story News Travel & Tourism
Resurrecting the Irrawaddy Flotilla
A Scottish firm has been reliving the heady days of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company with luxury river cruises.
Kachin Lead Story Natural Disasters News
Glacial floods threaten Myitkyina: expert
Celebrated Burmese weather expert Tun Lwin warns that the Kachin capital could be hit by flooding and landslides caused by melting Himalayan glaciers.
Kachin Lead Story Logging News
Life imprisonment for Chinese loggers in Kachin
153 of the men were handed the maximum punishment of life imprisonment, while two others, who are minors, were sentenced to 10 years.
Sino-Burmese border market shelled
The attackers used heavy weapons, most likely mortar or artillery fire, damaging some commercial buildings.
