Review of Efforts to Combat Desertification and Arrest and Reverse Land Degradation in Myanmar - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 283

maintained, of which 40 % would be designated as Permanent forest Estate (PFE)
and the rest, 10 % would be assigned as conversion forests for possible needs for
agriculture and other uses for the State.

7.2.1 Decision-Making: Legislation and Regulations

In order to manage lands under forest cover in an integrated approach forest
management plans for 62 civil districts covering the whole country were recently
reformulated and updated based on SFM principles. With emphasis on environmen-
tal conservation and improvement of soil fertility status, a new institution entitled
“Dry Zone Greening Department” was recently set up (see Sect. 7.1) to implement
the major tasks of protection, reforestation, water resources development and fuel
wood substitution in the desert-like dry zone of Central Myanmar.
A major breakthrough in Myanmar Forestry was also made in 1995 by issuing
Community Forestry Instructions to promote and encourage people participation
and decentralization in forest management in addition to policy, legislative and
institutional updating and reforms in the 1990s.
In 1993, Forest Conservation and Management Committees at all administrative
levels were formed to implement integrated forestland management to prevent
and check land degradation, deforestation as well as to strengthen multi-sectoral
planning, decision-making and participation.
The government's endeavors for the promotion of the best possible land use and
sustainable management of land resources since UNCED include:

• To facilitate the development of a market-oriented economy, “the Privatization

Commission” to oversee and ensure the successful implementation of the
privatization process was formed in January 1995.

• In forest sector, the Government is inviting foreign investments in forestry

either in joint ventures or 100 % investment, making agreements with Forestry
Department.

Forest Law of 1992 has provisions for private sector involvement and investment
in establishing forest plantations.
In Myanmar, forestry (about 51 % of the total Land area) and agriculture (about
27 %) are the two main sectors with regards to the management of land and
land-based resources. The State, with view of enhancing sustainable agriculture,
is reclaiming cultivable wasteland and fallow land into agriculture farmlands, while
measures are being undertaken to increase per unit yield. Regarding vast areas of
cultivable wasteland (idle land that could be cropped), it is possible to undertake
land reclamation encroaching on with forestlands. However, there exists agricultural
encroachment into forestland. Some 151,420 ha of permanent agriculture are
found to have been cultivated in forestlands. In Myanmar, intrusion of permanent
agriculture into forestlands is not a significant issue.