Impact of forest managementgovernance

93 Economically, teak plantations in Myanmar in general are expected to achieve a cost-benefit ratio of 8.4 at 8 percent discount rate after 50 years of plantation establishment. However, forest plantation establishment needs high investment. The current cost for forest plantation establishment mostly teak by private companies on average is about US1 000-1 300 per hectare in the first year alone. Average government expenditure for plantations currently is about US300 per hectare per year. It is also a labour-intensive activity and a long-term investment. Therefore, many possible risks have to be taken into consideration. These include natural disasters such as forest fire, drought, floods, pest outbreaks and human- induced problems such as fire, grazing, illegal cutting, theft and land conflict. From environmental and ecological points of view, plantations, mostly monocultures in Myanmar cannot replace all the functions of natural forests, even though the production of plantation forests is usually higher than that of natural forests. Commercial plantations mostly teak can yield an average of 15-30 m 3 hayear against 1-5m 3 hayear in natural forests. However, forest plantations are worth establishing on productive sites as they can maintain green cover, provide basic needs and can be replanted. Technical information on species and planting techniques: Commercial plantations, mainly established by the Forest Department and private companies, employ the following species and methods: •฀ Tree species – mostly teak Tectona grandis and other hardwood species such as pyinkado Xylia dolabriformis, padauk Pterocarpus macrocarpus, yemane Gmelina arborea and yinma Chukrasia tabularis. •฀ Planting techniques mainly use the taungya method as these plantations are usually established in degraded forest areas with favourable climatic and edaphic conditions. The planting steps include slashing and burning bushes and stumps, preparing seedlings or stumps in a nearby nursery in advance and planting them at the beginning of the rainy season usually the end of May or beginning of June. Spacing of 12 by 12´ is quite common with planting density of 300 trees per acre Figure 5. Following planting, weeding, fertilization, fire protection and protection from grazing animals and human beings is essential. Mechanical and silvicultural thinnings are applied as necessary before commercial exploitation or final cutting. Figure 5. Commercial teak planting activity in Myanmar For dry zone plantations established by the DZGD and communities living in the Central dry zone: •฀ Tree species: Drought-resistant, life-supporting for fodder, fuelwood, greening of sites and soilwater improvement indigenous species such as tama Azadirachta indica, kokko Albizzia lebbek, sha Acacia catechu, dahat Tectona hamiltoniana, htanaung Acacia leucocephala and mezali Cassia siamea. Drought-resistant Australian species such as Eucalyptus camaldulensis are also widely planted in highly degraded areas of the Central dry zone. Land after slash and burn Nursery establishment Sapling planting 94 •฀ Planting techniques: Digging, refilling and planting with preprepared seedlings are employed in most dry zone plantations Figure 6. The main reason for digging is to collect scarce rain water. Refilling with soil from elsewhere is also necessary to provide enough nutrients for young seedlings as the physical and chemical conditions of the soil at the site are very poor. Various pittrench sizesdesigns are employed based on slope conditions. The most common trench size on sloping ground is 6 x 1.5 x 1´ with a centre pit of 1 x 1 x 1´, and on flat land is 3 x 3 x 1´ with a centre pit of 1 x 1 x 1´. Following planting, weeding, fertilization, patching and protection from fire, grazing animals and human beings are essential. Watering and fencing are also important for the success of dry zone plantations. Figure 6. Rejuvenating the dry zone through land rehabilitation 5.2.2 Protection of remaining natural forests This strategy is applied to rehabilitate large areas of degraded natural forests in a cost-efficient manner. It is applied in areas where genetic resources such as mother trees and stumps still remain and is carried out in both highly productive and low productive e.g. the Central dry zone or mountainous areas sites. Only government departments such as the Forest Department and DZGD undertake this work. Government expenditure is only about US6.00 per hectare. Major field operations include checking the forest boundary, boundary repair, building of guards’ houses in protected forest areas, clearing of inspection paths, putting up warning notices, assignment of forest guards average of one guard for 250 ha and regular patrolling of the area to protect against fire, grazing, illegal cutting, encroachment and other disturbances. Although the budget looks low on a per hectare basis, when extensive areas of 500 or 1 000 ha are treated, it is still workable and the minimum targets can be met. However, the approach could be made more productive with bigger budgets. The outcomes are quite slow and not very apparent in the first few years. After three to five years the results can be impressive. If such protection is continued, even heavily degraded forest can regrow to its optimum condition in 15 to 20 years. Compared to forest plantation, the long-term results are much more attractive in terms of environmental, ecological, social and economic values. Both local communities and foresters prefer this operation over monoculture plantations. It is a promising strategy to restore degraded forests in an efficient and effective manner. Land preparation Preparing a pit trench Trench digging Nursery