EIA’s Forests team has been working on the ground in Myanmar since the country began to emerge from under the shadow of brutal military dictatorship in 2011, exposing illegal timber trade and helping to provide the tools for meaningful reform of its natural resources sector – but all that changed with the coup on 1 February
Two years after a seizure of timber by the Myanmar Forest Department at the port in Yangon, the incident has led to nine people being sentenced to 10 years each in prison for timber smuggling
A Dutch court has ruled that importers of teak from Myanmar must be able to trace the legality of the luxury timber all the way back to felling
The European Union is cracking down on shipments of illegal teak from Myanmar but needs to step up its game to be more effective
Details are emerging from local media in China of an unprecedented enforcement operation in the country’s Yunnan Province against smuggling of precious timber from neighbouring Myanmar
Myanmar President U Win Myint stated that “The Union Government will take effective administrative steps to rectify the weak areas in fighting corruption.” A bold and welcome statement, but no President, Minister or Ministry alone has the power to fight the deep cancer destroying all parts of Myanmar’s fragile future – corruption.