STATUS AND TRENDS IN MANGROVE AREA EXTENT WORLDWIDE

Myanmar

Vegetation description

Mangroves are situated within the tidal limits on alluvial flats in the delta and on sheltered muddy coastal areas. They are stratified depending on how much the area is affected by the daily rise and fall of the tides. The most abundant species are Rhizophora apiculata, R. mucronata, Heritiera fomes, Xylocarpus moluccensis (syn Carapa moluccensis), Sonneratia apetala and Excoecaria agallocha.

Kermode, D.W.D. 1964. Some aspects of silviculture in Burma Forest. Rangoon, Forest Department

National level mangrove area estimates

Year

Area
(ha)

Source

Trend

Methodology/Comments

1972

571 056

Anon. 1979. Situation on the Delta and Coastal Mangroves and Management Proposal.

Cited in: FAO. 1992. Report on Rehabilitation, Conservation and Management of Ayeyarwady Mangroves. By Han, U.S. Feasibility study on mangrove reforestation project. FO:MYA/90/003 Field Document No 5. Yangon, Myanmar. 98 pp.

1972

571 100

Saenger, P., Hegerl E.J. and J.D.S., Davie. 1983. Global status of mangrove ecosystems. Commission on Ecology Papers No.3. IUCN. Gland, Switzerland. 88 pp.

Secondary reference, no primary source provided. It seems to be based on Anon, 1979 (see above)

1972

571 071

Hthay, U. T. and U.S. Han. 1984. Mangrove forests of Burma. In: proceedings of the Asian Symposium on Mangrove Environment Research and Management, Kuala Lumpur, August 25-29, 1980. p. 82-85 Edited by E. Soepadmo, A.N. Rao and D.J. MacIntosh. 1984.

X

Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The figure reported in the table of the document is 570 070.59 ha

1976

812 000

Wacharakitty, S. 1983. Mangrove Ecosystem in General. In: ESCAP/UNESCO/NRCT Regional Remote Sensing Training Course of Mangrove Ecosystem. p. 22-33. Bangkok, Nov. 28-Dec. 16 1983

Cited in: FAO. 1994. Mangrove forest management guidelines. FAO Forestry Paper 117. Rome, 319 pp.

This figure could represent the extent of the mangroves and other wetlands.

1980

800 051

FAO, UNEP. 1981. Tropical Forest Resourcess Assesment Project, Forest Resources of Tropical Asia. FAO, UNEP, 475 pp.

Based on landsat imagery 1976, estimated rate of deforestation till 1980. Small scale imageries (1:1 000 000 scale colour composites) could have led to an over estimate of the extent of mangroves.

1983

517 100

Saenger, P., Hegerl E.J. and J.D.S., Davie. 1983. Global status of mangrove ecosystems. Commission on Ecology Papers No.3. IUCN. Gland, Switzerland. 88 pp.

Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year.

1988

382 423

FAO. 1992. Report on Rehabilitation, Conservation and Management of Ayeyarwady Mangroves. By Han, U.S. Feasibility study on mangrove reforestation project. FO:MYA/90/003 Field Document No 5. Yangon, Myanmar. 98 pp.

No primary source provided.

1994

945 000

FAO. 1994. Feasibility Study on Mangrove Reforestation, Myanmar. Project findings and recommendations. FO:DP/MYA/90/003 Terminal report. FAO, Rome. 14 pp.

Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year. Appears to be too high.

1994

378 600

Htay U.S.A. 1994. Re-afforestation of mangrove forests in Myanmar. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on ITTO Project: Development and Dissemination of Re-Afforestation Techniques of Mangrove Forests. JAM and NATMANCOM/NRCT.

Cited in: Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F. and Field, C.D., eds. 1997. World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 178 pp.

1995

344 400

Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F. and Field, C.D., eds. 1997. World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 178 pp.

Map analysis. (Ayeyarwady Delta
1:5 000 000; Other areas 1:1 000 000). According to the authors, the estimate by Htay, U.S.A., 1994 (see above) is likely to be more accurate.

1995

785 000

Kiaw Tint. 1995.

Cited in: FAO. 1997. Country Report-Union of Myanmar. Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study Working Paper Series (FAO), no. 8 / FAO, Rome, Italy, FAO, Bangkok, Thailand. Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; Ministry of Forestry, Yangon (Myanmar). 35 pp. Full reference for the figure not provided.

1996

421 900

MacKinnon J. 1996. Review of Biodiversity Conservation in the Indo-Malayan Realm. Draft report prepared by the Asia Bureau for Conservation in collaboration with the World Conservation Monitoring Center. The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Cited in: Brunner, J., Talbott, K., Elkin, C. 1998. Logging Bu World Resources Institute. 55 pp. http://pubs.wri.org/pubs_content.cfm?PubID=2928

1996

452 492

Ibid.

X

Combined national level mangrove estimate, based on the following remote sensing studies: Rakhine: Japan Forest Technical Association (JAFTA). 1999. Activity report of wide area tropical forest resources survey (Union of Myanmar), ISDP-98-1 Information system development project for the management of tropical forest. (Ref. Year: 1995); Ayeyarwady: U Tin Hla, U Htun Paw Oo, FD, MOF. 2001. The Mangrove Forest of Myanmar. Cited by Lwin, U San, 2002. (Ref Year: 2001); Tanintharyi: Government of the Union of Myanmar. Remote sensing and GIS Division, Forest Department, Ministry of Forestry. 1999. Report on the land use status of Tanintharyi Division and Ye Township. (Ref Year: 1996); Mon: Myint, S. 1998. Final technical report on monitoring the land use changes of Thanton District of Mon State between 1993 and 1997. (Ref Year: 1998). The reference year is the area weighted average.

2000

690 000

Aizpuru, M., Achard, F., and Blasco, F. 2000. Global Assessment of Cover Change of the Mangrove Forests using satellite imagery at medium to high resolution. In EEC Research project n 15017-1999-05 FIED ISP FR – Joint Research center, Ispra.

National estimate extrapolated from the The Irrawady Delta remote sensing case study.

Trends in mangrove area extent over time

Box 3. The Ayeyarwady Delta mangroves in Myanmar

The Ayeyarwady Delta represents an important and extended mangrove forest. It is located in the Ayeyarwady division, and it is included in the Delta Forest Division, which comprises 13 forests reserves, among which eleven contain mangroves and their associated flora and fauna. (FAO, 1993) The review and analysis of the information on mangroves extent in this area is complicated due to the use of different methodologies (see e.g. the different estimates for 1974 and 1995) as well as the use of different conversion factors from acres to hectares and some compilation and typographical errors in a couple of the references

Area changes over time, the Ayeyarwady Delta mangroves, Myanmar

The information identified on the extent of the Ayeyarwady Delta mangroves covers a time span of nearly 80 years.

The mangroves in this area have suffered an alarming decline over time: over 140,000 ha of mangroves have disappeared between 1924 and 2001, equivalent to the 56 percent rehabilitation of the original extent. The major cause of this rapid decline is conversion of mangrove areas into rice fields in line with government policies to promote self-sufficiency in food production. There has thus been a conscious decision to sacrifice some of the mangrove area to increase food security. However, some mangrove areas were also overexploited to produce fuelwood for Yangon, a practice which is no longer allowed. More recently, the reliabilitation of mangroves and the establishement of community mangrove forests have been initiated.

For a list of references for these estimates please refer to

FAO. 2002. FAO’s database on mangrove area estimates, by M.L. Wilkie, S. Fortuna and & O. Souksavat. Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper No. 62. Rome.

Year	Area (ha)	Source	Trend	Methodology/Comments
1972	571 056	Anon. 1979. Situation on the Delta and Coastal Mangroves and Management Proposal.		Cited in: FAO. 1992. Report on Rehabilitation, Conservation and Management of Ayeyarwady Mangroves. By Han, U.S. Feasibility study on mangrove reforestation project. FO:MYA/90/003 Field Document No 5. Yangon, Myanmar. 98 pp.
1972	571 100	Saenger, P., Hegerl E.J. and J.D.S., Davie. 1983. Global status of mangrove ecosystems. Commission on Ecology Papers No.3. IUCN. Gland, Switzerland. 88 pp.		Secondary reference, no primary source provided. It seems to be based on Anon, 1979 (see above)
1972	571 071	Hthay, U. T. and U.S. Han. 1984. Mangrove forests of Burma. In: proceedings of the Asian Symposium on Mangrove Environment Research and Management, Kuala Lumpur, August 25-29, 1980. p. 82-85 Edited by E. Soepadmo, A.N. Rao and D.J. MacIntosh. 1984.	X	Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The figure reported in the table of the document is 570 070.59 ha
1976	812 000	Wacharakitty, S. 1983. Mangrove Ecosystem in General. In: ESCAP/UNESCO/NRCT Regional Remote Sensing Training Course of Mangrove Ecosystem. p. 22-33. Bangkok, Nov. 28-Dec. 16 1983		Cited in: FAO. 1994. Mangrove forest management guidelines. FAO Forestry Paper 117. Rome, 319 pp. This figure could represent the extent of the mangroves and other wetlands.
1980	800 051	FAO, UNEP. 1981. Tropical Forest Resourcess Assesment Project, Forest Resources of Tropical Asia. FAO, UNEP, 475 pp.		Based on landsat imagery 1976, estimated rate of deforestation till 1980. Small scale imageries (1:1 000 000 scale colour composites) could have led to an over estimate of the extent of mangroves.
1983	517 100	Saenger, P., Hegerl E.J. and J.D.S., Davie. 1983. Global status of mangrove ecosystems. Commission on Ecology Papers No.3. IUCN. Gland, Switzerland. 88 pp.		Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year.
1988	382 423	FAO. 1992. Report on Rehabilitation, Conservation and Management of Ayeyarwady Mangroves. By Han, U.S. Feasibility study on mangrove reforestation project. FO:MYA/90/003 Field Document No 5. Yangon, Myanmar. 98 pp.		No primary source provided.
1994	945 000	FAO. 1994. Feasibility Study on Mangrove Reforestation, Myanmar. Project findings and recommendations. FO:DP/MYA/90/003 Terminal report. FAO, Rome. 14 pp.		Secondary reference, no primary source provided. The "Year" is the publication year. Appears to be too high.
1994	378 600	Htay U.S.A. 1994. Re-afforestation of mangrove forests in Myanmar. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on ITTO Project: Development and Dissemination of Re-Afforestation Techniques of Mangrove Forests. JAM and NATMANCOM/NRCT.		Cited in: Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F. and Field, C.D., eds. 1997. World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 178 pp.
1995	344 400	Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F. and Field, C.D., eds. 1997. World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 178 pp.		Map analysis. (Ayeyarwady Delta 1:5 000 000; Other areas 1:1 000 000). According to the authors, the estimate by Htay, U.S.A., 1994 (see above) is likely to be more accurate.
1995	785 000	Kiaw Tint. 1995.		Cited in: FAO. 1997. Country Report-Union of Myanmar. Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study Working Paper Series (FAO), no. 8 / FAO, Rome, Italy, FAO, Bangkok, Thailand. Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; Ministry of Forestry, Yangon (Myanmar). 35 pp. Full reference for the figure not provided.
1996	421 900	MacKinnon J. 1996. Review of Biodiversity Conservation in the Indo-Malayan Realm. Draft report prepared by the Asia Bureau for Conservation in collaboration with the World Conservation Monitoring Center. The World Bank, Washington, D.C.		Cited in: Brunner, J., Talbott, K., Elkin, C. 1998. Logging Bu World Resources Institute. 55 pp. http://pubs.wri.org/pubs_content.cfm?PubID=2928
1996	452 492	Ibid.	X	Combined national level mangrove estimate, based on the following remote sensing studies: Rakhine: Japan Forest Technical Association (JAFTA). 1999. Activity report of wide area tropical forest resources survey (Union of Myanmar), ISDP-98-1 Information system development project for the management of tropical forest. (Ref. Year: 1995); Ayeyarwady: U Tin Hla, U Htun Paw Oo, FD, MOF. 2001. The Mangrove Forest of Myanmar. Cited by Lwin, U San, 2002. (Ref Year: 2001); Tanintharyi: Government of the Union of Myanmar. Remote sensing and GIS Division, Forest Department, Ministry of Forestry. 1999. Report on the land use status of Tanintharyi Division and Ye Township. (Ref Year: 1996); Mon: Myint, S. 1998. Final technical report on monitoring the land use changes of Thanton District of Mon State between 1993 and 1997. (Ref Year: 1998). The reference year is the area weighted average.
2000	690 000	Aizpuru, M., Achard, F., and Blasco, F. 2000. Global Assessment of Cover Change of the Mangrove Forests using satellite imagery at medium to high resolution. In EEC Research project n 15017-1999-05 FIED ISP FR – Joint Research center, Ispra.		National estimate extrapolated from the The Irrawady Delta remote sensing case study.