Starting from year zero: Environmental governance in Myanmar

Abstract

Introduction Myanmar is a country of diverse ecosystems that traverse northern misty mountains with sub-alpine forests, the central dry zone alluvial plains and the southern coastal tropics. Mountainous borderlands, which refl ect a variety of differences in ethnicity, culture and diet, ring the central lowlands. The systems of environmental governance for these complex environments are, however, embryonic with notions of public participation, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment only now appearing in government legislation. For fi ve decades until 2011 Myanmar was ruled by authoritarian governments that exhibited little inclination towards environmental protection or community consultation, especially following the introduction of direct military rule in 1989 (Sovacool 2012). The country remains predominantly agrarian, with small-scale farming the bedrock of employment and economy, implying that the impacts of climate change will be signifi cant, particularly in heavily monsoon-dependent regions such as the dry zone (UNDP 2011). Nevertheless it is only recently that an overarching law to protect ecosystems and adequately regulate the environmental impacts of economic activity has been promulgated.