Dramatic rise in timber smuggling, official says
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Myanmar seized more than 15,000 tonnes of illegally harvested timber in the first two months of this fiscal year, a ten-fold increase over the same period last year, a government official said yesterday.
The figures were revealed less than a month after the country announced plans to reduce its output of processed teak by around a third this year to preserve its dwindling forests. The seizures of illegally cut timber occurred mainly in the Sagaing division, Shan state and Kachin state, said Aye Myint Maung, deputy minister of environmental conservation and forestry.
Last year, Myanmar authorities confiscated around 38,000 tonnes of illegal timber and wood products, including 5,000 tonnes of teak, according to government data.
