FAO Myanmar celebrating the “International Day of Forests”
On 21st March 2018, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations collaborated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC) for the celebration of the International Day of Forests (IDF) in Nay Pyi Taw. The United Nations proclaimed the 21st March to be the International Day of Forests, as to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and the theme for 2018 is “Forests and Sustainable Cities.”
According to Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015, forest and other wooded land cover 43% and 30% of the land area of Myanmar which represent the second largest forest cover of land area in Southeast Asia. Myanmar remains as a predominately rural country with 70% of country population living in rural area and Urbanization, as in the rest of world, is also the growing trend in Myanmar. With this growth of urbanization, there is important factor to be integrated in urban planning process which is to “Promoting trees and forests for making cities cleaner, greener, and healthier places to live for the benefit of the present and future generations”.
Ms. Xiaojie Fan, FAO Representative stated “Since the majority of the population of Myanmar still live in rural areas, this put Myanmar in a good position to plan ahead and avoid uncontrolled urban sprawl by incorporating green elements, trees and forest to create clean, green and healthy future cities” during the opening remark at the International day of Forest” in Nay Pyi Taw.
FAO in Myanmar is working towards sustainable use of natural resources such as water, land, and forests while addressing threats of climate change, through climate-smart agriculture and climate change mitigation. At present, a wide variety of projects that aim to build resilient environment and support increase in ecological integrity while enhancing the quality of life for rural communities is implemented in the country. FAO also focuses on giving technical support to strengthen Myanmar’s capacity in national forest monitoring system development with the support of the Government of Finland on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) in Myanmar.