This Country Environmental Analysis ( CEA ) was prepared by a team led by Martin Fodor and Stephen Ling.

 This analysis is mainly focus on four environmental issues namely forestry sector, fisheries sector, solid waste management, air pollution and environmental impact assessment system. This is the very first analysis on environment and natural resources ( ENR) sector by the world bank in the reengagement in Myanmar in 2012.The analysis aims to contribute tasks which are included in World Bank’s Myanmar program. Moreover, the analysis contributes toward the development of the Strategic Country Diagnostic.

The CEA focuses on four areas of particular significance to ENRs from the perspective of poverty reduction, social inclusion and participation, and economic growth. This CEA Synthesis report is the main deliverable of the CEA. The CEA has been carried out by the World Bank in partnership and close collaboration with a number of government departments including Forest Department (FD), Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation ( MONREC ) and the Department of Fisheries ( DOF) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation ( MOALI).

As I mentioned in Biodiversity, last month report , Myanmar is rich in natural resources and is a global biodiversity hotspot. Myanmar’s forests and fishing industry are two significant contributors to the economy, and yet these sectors are also potentially under threat from overexploitation and mismanagement. In more recent decades, there have been dramatic declines in forest and fisheries resources. Natural resources, particularly commercial teak exports, have traditionally played a major economic role in Myanmar.

Against a backdrop of strong industry-and services-led gross domestic product ( GDP) growth, official statistics suggest that renewable resources now make only a modest contribution to the formal economy. However, formal GDP statistics vastly underestimate the economic and social importance of natural resources. Including both their contribution to production and other ecosystem services, the total annual value attained from Myanmar’s ecosystems has been estimated to be up to 10 times higher than reflected in formal GDP figures for forestry and fisheries. One important dimension of ecosystem services is to reduce Myanmar’s vulnerability to climate change and natural disaster. 

Poverty is more concentrated in rural, natural-resource dependent areas of Myanmar. Poverty is more prevalent and severe in the hilly, mountainous, and coastal agroecological zones of Myanmar, compared with the Delta and Dry Zone. The poor are also highly reliant on forests and natural ecosystems. The poor are also highly reliant on forests and natural ecosystems.

Myanmar has been more deeply affected by subnational conflict than any other country in Asia, fueled in part by abundant natural resources. Participatory natural resources management can support Myanmar’s ongoing peace process. There are growing concerns around the impacts of the large-scale development, particularly from the mining sector. Acute environmental health issues are on the rise, caused by rapid urbanization and industrialization. Urban waste also increases the risk of environmental health issues. Treatment and proper sanitary waste disposal remain limited, even in formal landfills which are operated as open dumpsites without any environmental controls. Income from solid waste management services is insufficient to cover the costs of solid waste collection and disposal and represents 25–50 percent of the operational expenditures. The Government of Myanmar (GoM) has made impressive progress recently in developing a set of national strategies and action plans to manage natural resources.

·      This is just an executive summary> > >

 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/892021560177422484/pdf/Executive-Summary.pdf

 and for those who want to read the full synthesis report  please check > > > http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/464661560176989512/pdf/Synthesis-Report.pdf

·      Attribution—“World Bank. 2019. Myanmar Country Environmental Analysis. © World Bank.”