Rehabilitation of Shin-ma-taung hill in

central dry zone of Myanmar

Ba Kaung

Union of Myanmar

Workshop on

“Forest Restoration at Landscape Level in Asia-Pacific Region”

3 November 2013, Rotorua, New Zealand

FAO & RECOFTC

Site Location

Shin-ma-taung Hill Yesagyo Township, Pakokku District,

Magway Region, Central Dry Zone of Myanmar

• Isolated hill in central flat land

• Peak point 525 meter above sea level

• Total area 7,687 ha which includes:

7,300 ha of reserved forest areas

400 ha of un-classed forests

Topography and Landuse

Local Climatic and Natural Environment

• Severe weather and environmental conditions

• Low rainfall, high temperature and frequent droughts

• Average annual rainfall – 450 mm for last 20 years

• Temperature:

– Highest day time – rises to 45oC in summer (March to May)

– Lowest night time temperature – drops to about 12oC (Dec to Jan)

• Soil is poor, mostly sandy gravel and rocky, unproductive

Natural vegetation

• Dry-thorn forests

• Dominated by Acacia, Ziziphus and Neem species

• One of the most famous species from this region is Limonia acidissima, locally called Thanatkha - Myanmar ladies traditionally use it as facial and body cream

Myanmar Ladies with Thanakha

Deforestation and forest degradation in the area

• Shin-ma-taung hill used to be covered with good dry forest until 1960s

• Since 1970s, local communities faced hardships due to economic

restrictions and poor job opportunities

• Forest resources became the last resort, fall-back option for the landless

communities

• They began to remove logs, poles, posts and fuel wood from the dry

forests; also exploited fodder, fruit, meat and all useable things

• After 30 years of such intensive cutting and over exploitation, the once

green hill became highly degraded and even turned barren

• Local streams and ponds dried up and wild animals disappeared

• With the harsh climatic and edaphic conditions, natural regeneration and

recovery of these degraded forests ceased

Rehabilitation Efforts (Project Description)

• Shin-ma-taung hill rehabilitation was initiated

by Forest Department (FD) and Dry Zone Greening

Department (DZGD) in 1995

• The main strategies employed are:

Plantation establishment

Protection of remaining natural vegetation

Plantation Establishment

• This method is applied in areas where natural vegetation is severely degraded, on almost bare land areas

• From 1995 to 2001, a total 2,163 ha of forest plantation have been established by digging method:

- Village fuel-wood plantation 807 ha

- Community forest plantation 31 ha

- Watershed & Hill greening 1,325 ha

Major species: Indigenous drought

resistant species:

Acacia catechu, Acacia leucophloes,

Azadirachta indica, Tamarindus indica,

Zizyphus mauritiana

Protection of Remaining Natural Vegetation

• Areas where genetic resources (such as mother trees and

stumps) still remained were protected

• From 1998 to 2003 a total 4,926 ha of degraded forest areas

have been kept under continuous care and protection

• Major field operations include:

• forest boundary repair

• building guard house

• clearing inspection paths

• putting warring signboards

• assignment of forest guards and

• regular patrols to protect against fire, grazing, illegal

cutting, encroachment, other disturbances

Results after 18 years

• Total rehabilitated area, combination of natural forest protection area and forest plantation reached 7,089 ha

• 92% of the whole mountain area has been rehabilitated (revegetated)

• Soil and water quality improved and natural streams recur

Shin-ma-taung Hill 2006 Shin-ma-taung Hill 2012

Cost: • Government expenditure for greening plantation, at current price

is about 300 US$ per ha • Protection of remaining natural forests (natural regeneration) is

about 6 US$ per ha • Does not include staff salary, costs for facilities and equipment such

as office buildings, vehicles, equipment etc. Benefits: • Difficult to express benefits of project in monetary value, a rough

estimate is: – Dry land plantation can produce 10-13 tons biomass/ha/year – Dry land forests can produce 15-20 tons of biomass/ha/year – Local price for fuel-wood is roughly about 10-12 US$ per ton. – However, many intangible benefits such as soil and water

improvement, wildlife, improved micro climate conditions, aesthetic value, etc.

Costs and Benefits

Project Benefits Short Term Benefits

Increased Job Opportunities More Fodder

13

Long Term Benefits (Cont.)

Sustainable Agriculture Restoration of Local Water Resources

Wildlife Restoration Additional fuel-wood

Lessons learned and way forward

• Never too late to rehabilitate degraded forest land even under harsh natural environments

• Rehabilitation should be people oriented

• Takes time to see the long term impacts

• Allowing forests to naturally regenerate is is most cost efficient and profitable over plantations in long term

• FD and DZGD of Myanmar are replicating similar projects in severely degraded areas

• At present, 17 severely degraded hills and mountains are being rehabilitated using this example

Thank You