INTRODUCTION:
"Myanmar’s Community Forestry programme began in with the Community Forestry Instruction of 1995. Since then over two hundred and fifty Forest User Groups have been formed across the country, and have taken responsibility for controlling, managing and sustainably using a wide range of forest. How have they faired?

Policy Briefing Paper..."Since Myanmar’s 1995 Community Forestry Instruction, forests have gradually been handed over to community management across the country. How are Forest User Groups performing? Are the Community Forests improving in condition? And are there improved livelihood benefits? This paper summarises findings of an assessment of 16 randomly selected Forest User Groups across 4 key regions.

Under support from the DFID PyoePin programme, Dr Kyaw Tint, the head of ECCDI, a leading Yangon based NGO led a research project to understand the current status of Community Forestry in the country, with technical support from Dr. Oliver Springate-Baginski. Field study was conducted in October – December 2010, and we presented our findings at a national workshop.

The three main outputs of the project are available to download here:

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in April 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Papun District, in the period between January and March 2012. It provides information on land confiscation by Border Guard Battalion #1013, which has appropriated villagers’ communal grazing land between D--- and M--- villages for the construction of barracks for housing soldiers' families.

FARMERS from Alwan Sut village in Yangon Region’s Thanlyin township are seeking the right to continue to farm land they were forced to sell 15 years ago for a dormant building project...

Executive Summary: "In the context of transition to a more open form of
government, the Myanmar government has
begun to liberalize land markets and, in 2012, enacted two major land-related laws.
Implementing these new land laws has proven challenging, however, as it has been difficult to
integrate these laws with the existing customary practices of various ethnic minorities. To
address these and other issues UN-HABITAT Myanmar is assisting the Myanmar government in
developing a
Land Administration and Management Program
(LAMP).

In September 2011, residents of Je--- village, Kawkareik Township told KHRG that they feared soldiers under Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1022 and LIBs #355 and #546 would soon complete the confiscation of approximately 500 acres of land in their community in order to develop a large camp for Battalion #1022 and homes for soldiers' families. According to the villagers, the area has already been surveyed and the Je--- village head has informed local plantation and paddy farm owners whose lands are to be confiscated.

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in T'Nay Hsah Township, Pa'an District during September 2011. It details an incident in which a soldier from Tatmadaw Border Guard #1017 deliberately shot at villagers in a farm hut, resulting in the death of one civilian and injury to a six-year-old child.

... Myanmar’s forest and timber sector has been central to the country’s economy and society, particularly over the last century. Since the colonial era, timber has been a major export revenue earner to Burma/Myanmar and thus subject to much political debate (Bryant 1996). In addition to timber export revenues, the forests of Myanmar have always provided timber and non-timber forest products for domestic consumption as well as a range of environmental services including water catchment, habitat for flora and fauna, carbon storage, and soil nutrient recovery in rotational agriculture.

Land grabbing and speculation, which can both manifest in a multitude of forms, are
unfortunate, often-inter-twined, yet common practices in countries undergoing structural
political transition. If unchecked, unregulated, or unintentionally encouraged by the very
governments that replace formerly authoritarian regimes, these two land realities can serve to
undermine democratic reforms, entrench economic and political privilege and seriously harm
the human rights prospects of those affected, in particular internationally recognised housing,

The complaint letter below, signed by 25 local community members, was written in July 2011 and raises villagers' concerns related to the construction of the Kanchanaburi – Tavoy [Dawei] highway linking Thailand and the Tavoy deep sea port. Villagers described concerns that the highway would bisect agricultural land and destroy crops under cultivation worth 3,280,500 kyat (US $3,657). In response to these concerns, local community members formed a group called the 'Village and Public Sustainable Development' to represent villagers' concerns and request compensation.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during April 2012 in Ler Mu Lah Township, Mergui/Tavoy District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed 40-year-old G--- village head, Saw K---, who described abusive practices perpetrated by the Tatmadaw in his village throughout the previous four year period, including forced labour, arbitrary taxation in the form of both goods and money, and obstructions to humanitarian relief, specifically medical care availability and education support.