Myanmar - Environment

In Myanmar the principal environmental threat comes from cyclones and flooding during the monsoon season, and regular earthquakes. Deforestation for farming or illegal economic gain is the most persistent ecological effect of human encroachment. In 1985, 405 square miles were lost through deforestation. By 1994, two-thirds of Myanmar's tropical forests had been eliminated. However, the nation still had the world's eighth largest mangrove area, totaling approximately half a million hectares.

Little information is available about the long-term effects of industrialization on the natural environment, although evidence of industrial pollutants has been found in the air, water, soil, and food. Myanmar has 880.6 cubic kilometers of renewable water resources. Only about 89% of city dwellers and 66% of the rural population have pure water. Inadequate sanitation and water treatment are leading contributors to disease. Environmental concerns have been given low priority by the government.

Endangered species in Myanmar include the tiger, Asian elephant, Malayan tapir, Sumatran rhinoceros, Fea's muntjac, river terrapin, estuarine crocodile, and four species of turtle (green sea, hawksbill, olive ridley, and leatherback). The Javan rhinoceros is extinct. Out of a total of 251 species of mammals, 31 are endangered; of 867 breeding bird species, 44 are endangered. Twenty reptiles in 203 species are threatened along with one type of freshwater fish. Myanmar also has 6 threatened species of plants in a total of 7,000. Threatened species include the banteng, pink-headed duck, freshwater sawfish, Sumatran rhinoceros, Siamese crocodile, hawksbill turtle, gaur, and sun bear.