Appeal: Myanmar’s forest crisis

We’re exposing the crooks making a fortune from stripping Myanmar of its teak trees, and criminal networks destroying forests and wildlife around the world.

Myanmar’s pristine forests

Myanmar’s forests are extraordinary in their beauty and diversity. They range from subtropical hardwood forests in the northern mountains, to coastal mangroves in the south. Rural communities depend on these forests for their livelihoods. They’re also home to a huge variety of wonderful wildlife, including elephants, tigers, sun bears and snub-nosed monkeys.

Tragically, Myanmar has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Since 1990, the country has lost about 20 per cent of its forests, and the destruction continues at a terrifying pace.

State of Corruption

Our recent report, State of Corruption, has brought the extent of Myanmar’s forest crisis to the world’s attention. The supposedly “legal” trade is riddled with fraud and overharvesting, with huge bribes paid to complicit officials. And blatantly illegal logging continues, with tens of thousands of tonnes of stolen teak pouring out of Myanmar each year.

The loss of the world’s remaining pristine forests is a global emergency. But the situation in Myanmar is even more urgent, because dirty money from Myanmar teak funds both sides of the country’s long-running ethnic conflicts. Myanmar’s military, and the ethnic ared organisations in conflict with the state, both profit from the massive illegal timber trade.

The scale of the problem is daunting, but our work is really making a difference. Our ground-breaking undercover investigations have unmasked the mysterious “Shadow President of Teak”, who used his crooked connections to sew up the market in Myanmar teak. We’ve exposed traders trucking huge amounts of illegal timber over the border from Myanmar to China. And we’re cooperating closely with law enforcement officials to stop illicit Myanmar teak coming into the UK and Europe, mostly for use as decking on luxury yachts.

By supporting us, you’re standing with the innocent victims who depend on the survival of these amazing forests. You’re standing against the people making a personal fortune out of forest destruction, at such a terrible cost.

Your support for EIA helps to disrupt the networks profiting from the irreparable loss of precious forests and wildlife around the world.

Please give whatever you can today.