Review of Efforts to Combat Desertification and Arrest and Reverse Land Degradation in Myanmar - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 269

of high yielding quality seeds. There is potential for this policy to impact on the
nation's natural resource base.

• Farmlands: Existing farmlands are protected against changes to other uses. In

the case of dam construction, existing settlements are to be shifted to new areas
where new farm lands are to be developed.

• Landscape: Widespread deforestation and unplanned land use change can occur.

• Forestland: These are vulnerable to encroachment due to expansion of human

settlements and the intensity is directly related to population of the expanded or
newly located settlement.

• Wetlands: Ecosystem of wetland areas is expected to have a significant change

due to expansion of human settlement. Inlay Lake ecosystem in the eastern part of
the country is a significant example that shows water pollution and sedimentation
in the water body due to human settlement in uplands of the lake.

• Biological Diversity in Coastal Areas: It is rational that biological diversity would

be adversely affected by the expansion of human settlement.

These implications that would be experienced in any expansion of human set-
tlement are given due consideration by government agencies so that the unintended
consequences are minimized.

3 Myanmar's Dry Zone

The Dry Zone, which possesses one-third of both the population and area of
Myanmar is vulnerable to the processes of land degradation and desertification.
According to the rainfall pattern, the Dry Zone has an area of about 67,700 km 2
or about 10 % of the country (Fig. 14.1 ). The Dry Zone comprises Lower Sagaing,
Mandalay and Magway Divisions. There are altogether 13 districts and 57 townships
in the Dry Zone. The Dry Zone suffers intense heat of monthly temperature ranging
from minimum of 10 ı C in the cool months to maximum of above 40 ı Cindry
months. The dry zone is surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges.
Towards the South it consists of undulating plateau with elevation of 150-200 m
and a number of steep hilly chains rise above the plateau with peaks of hill reaching
an altitude of 300-400 m. The arid and semi-arid zones are characterized by an
extreme diversity such as soils, geomorphology, vegetation, water balance and
human activities.
The annual rainfall in the central part of Myanmar known as the Dry Zone is less
than 600 mm. The dry zone is prone to droughts. According to characteristics of
drought using rainfall series, the worse drought that hit the area was during 1979
and 1980. The second worse drought that hit lower Sagaing and Mandalay (but not
Magway) took place during 1982 and 1983. The third worse drought hit the whole
area of the dry zone during 1993 and 1994.
The original vegetation of central Dry Zone is described as Savanna woodland
which consisted of short deciduous trees and a ground flora composed of different