Condition of Illegally Logged Stands Following High Frequency Legal Logging in Bago Yoma, Myanmar

Saung, Thein; Khai, Tual Cin; Mizoue, Nobuya; Ota, Tetsuji; Kajisa, Tsuyoshi

doi:10.3390/f12020115

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…A tentative explanation is that they developed resilience to humans, whose presence in forest environments started many years ago. The country had strong logging activity [77], particularly between 1990 and 2000 [78], and high deforestation rates are documented over the last twenty years [79]. As confirmed by Wang e Myint [80] particularly in RYER, in the period between 2001 and 2010, the annual rate of deforestation was 2.57% for a total loss of 3914 km 2 of forest environments.…”

Section: Daily Activity Patternsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Evaluation of Human Disturbance on the Activity of Medium–Large Mammals in Myanmar Tropical Forests

Cremonesi

Bisi

Gaffi³

et al. 2021

Forests

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The effects of human disturbance represent one of the major threats for wildlife conservation. Many studies have shown that wildlife avoids or reduces direct contact with human activities through changes in activity patterns, and by minimizing spatiotemporal overlap. In this study, we investigated the possible effects of human presence on the temporal activity of medium-to-large mammals using two areas in Myanmar that differ in the intensity of human disturbance. We monitored temporal segregation mechanisms using camera trapping data and with two statistical approaches: daily activity overlaps between humans and wildlife and circular statistics. We did not find a significant difference in overlapping activity between areas but, thanks to circular statistics, we found that some species show changes in activity patterns, suggesting temporal avoidance. We observed that the daily activity of five species differed between areas of Myanmar, likely adopting mechanisms to reduce overlap in areas highly frequented by humans. Interestingly, these species are all threatened by hunting or poaching activities, four of which have been described in literature as “cathemeral”, or species that are active through day and night. This study suggests that some species adapt their behavior, at least partially, to avoid human presence in habitats with higher anthropic occurrence and increase our knowledge on the status of medium–large mammals in a poorly studied country as Myanmar.

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Section: Daily Activity Patternsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Evaluation of Human Disturbance on the Activity of Medium–Large Mammals in Myanmar Tropical Forests

Cremonesi

Bisi

Gaffi³

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…In our study area, during 3 years of monitoring (dry season), we found constant and intense logging activity in all the sites. Over‐harvesting occurred mainly due to the absence of an appropriate selective logging cycle as found in other parts of Myanmar (Saung et al ., 2021). The mammal communities exhibit species composition and ecosystem functions (e.g., trophic niches and body mass groups) comparable with other tropical region studies (Rovero et al ., 2019; Oberosler et al ., 2020 a ), but with a lower diversity compared with other regions of Myanmar (Cremonesi et al ., 2021 b ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why we went to the woods?: effects of human disturbance on species presence in a disturbed Myanmar forest ecosystem

Cremonesi

Bisi

Gaffi³

et al. 2021

Animal Conservation

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Human activities are affecting habitats and wildlife populations worldwide. Tropical forests are one of the most affected environments, mainly due to deforestation and poaching. Since high levels of anthropogenic pressure on forest ecosystems, including illegal logging and hunting, occur in southwest Myanmar (Rakhine State), we analyzed the effects of human disturbance on medium to large mammals in this region. We used camera-trapping data collected over three consecutive years to investigate occurrence probabilities of 10 species: five common species exploited for bushmeat consumption, and five threatened species targeted by the illegal wildlife trade. We used a hierarchical single-species multi-season occupancy model implemented in a Bayesian framework to evaluate the effects of human disturbances and persistent habitat characteristics, such as the proportion of remaining pristine evergreen forest and the elevation, on occurrence probabilities. We found that occupancy probabilities of three out of five target species for the illegal wildlife trade were positively linked to forest habitats, whereas among common species hunted for bushmeat consumption the Northern red muntjak and the Malayan porcupine were negatively affected by human presence. The effects of human and habitat covariates were varied for other species of both groups. We confirmed results from previous studies that human disturbance is a driver of occurrence probabilities for some species in tropical areas. Our findings suggest that as protection of rainforest habitat is fundamental to the conservation of tropical ecosystems, law enforcement, patrolling, and local engagement activities are also recommended to mitigate forest and species exploitation. Finally, camera trapping could be a first step to identify areas where human presence affects species occupancy and help local authorities to develop more fine-tuned conservation plans.

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“…Official selective logging by the state was practiced until 2015 in the study, after which point it was stopped with a plan of a 10-year logging ban in the Bago mountain range for forest rehabilitation purposes [51]. Previous studies found that illegal logging activities in the study area frequently followed and used extraction roads developed for legal timber extraction [52,53]. The targeted illegally logged species included tree species not only for timber but also charcoal production [52].…”

Section: Land Cover Dynamics Between Agriculture and Other Wooded Lan...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies found that illegal logging activities in the study area frequently followed and used extraction roads developed for legal timber extraction [52,53]. The targeted illegally logged species included tree species not only for timber but also charcoal production [52]. Although logging was banned in the study area from 1 May 2016 onwards [14], illegal logging continued [14,54].…”

Section: Land Cover Dynamics Between Agriculture and Other Wooded Lan...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Evaluation and Monitoring of Agricultural Expansion in Forests in Myanmar: An Integrated Approach of Remote Sensing Techniques and Social Surveys

San,

Kumar,

Biber-Freudenberger

et al. 2024

Land

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Agricultural expansion is the main driver of deforestation in Myanmar. We analyzed the effectiveness of a national policy intervention on agricultural encroachment in state forests in Taungoo District in Myanmar from 2010 to 2020. The policy aims to stop agricultural encroachment and reforest encroached areas through farmers’ participation in an agroforestry community forestry. We applied an integrated approach that involved a land cover change analysis together with a household survey about encroachment behavior. The remote sensing analysis for the years 2010, 2015 and 2020 showed the land cover change pattern and an increase in agricultural encroachment from 9.5% to 18.5%, while forests declined from 62.8% to 51.9%. The survey showed that most farmers (91%) believed that the policy intervention did not lead to a change in their encroachment behavior or farm size. The main reasons that incentivized encroachment were stated to be livelihood needs, immigration due to marriage and increased accessibility due to road construction. The main reason for reducing encroachment was plantation establishment, leading to a loss of land for encroaching farmers. In conclusion, the integrated approach showed that the policy intervention did not decrease encroachment, whereas other factors influenced encroachment behavior. We recommend solving interministerial conflicts of interest related to encroachment in Myanmar and using an integrated approach for future studies.

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Condition of Illegally Logged Stands Following High Frequency Legal Logging in Bago Yoma, Myanmar

Cited by 8 publications

References 31 publications

Evaluation of Human Disturbance on the Activity of Medium–Large Mammals in Myanmar Tropical Forests

Evaluation of Human Disturbance on the Activity of Medium–Large Mammals in Myanmar Tropical Forests

Why we went to the woods?: effects of human disturbance on species presence in a disturbed Myanmar forest ecosystem

Policy Evaluation and Monitoring of Agricultural Expansion in Forests in Myanmar: An Integrated Approach of Remote Sensing Techniques and Social Surveys

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