(Staff article from The OXPECKERS on 08 April 2022.)
From Myanmar to
the EU, the path of a ‘bloodstained’ resource: European Union member states
imported more than €22-million worth of timber from Myanmar in 2021 – and
nearly €8-million after sanctions were imposed on the military junta in June.
Myanmar’s forests are dying. The Southeast Asian
nation lost four million hectares of forest cover – an area the size of
Switzerland – between 2001 and 2020, according to the Global Forest Watch.
These Myanmar forests are full of tree species sought after by loggers, mainly
teak, a hardwood resistant to both water and pests that is highly prized in the
shipping industry.
“A luxury yacht
without Burmese teak is like a party without champagne,” says a player in the
logging industry, which every year generates about $100-million in taxes and
more than $300-million in revenue in Myanmar, according to the most recent
report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Since the
military coup in Myanmar on February 1 2021, the “champagne” has been flowing
for the junta. In addition to lucrative
natural resources such as gas and oil, the military has taken control of Myanma
Timber Enterprise (MTE), the state-owned company that exploits Myanmar’s
forests on an exclusive basis. Whether the timber is legal or not, no one
really knows: its traceability has always been an issue.