Forest Management

The Myanmar Selection System and Annual Allowable Cut
The Myanmar Selection System (MSS) is worthy of review, although practice diverges greatly from theory as laid out in Asia’s most notable forest management scheme during colonial times. The MSS operates according to felling cycles of 30 years, with the division of forest blocks into 30 plots of approximately equal yield capacity. Each year selection felling is carried out in one plot. All marketable trees that have reached minimum exploitable girth requirements are selected for cutting. Teak is extracted first, followed later by other hardwoods. In addition a range of procedures are to be followed to ensure the preferential growth of teak trees and general health of the forests.

The MSS’s hallmark is the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) set for teak and other hardwoods at sustainable levels. Since its introduction the Forest Department has conducted forest-land inventories to describe the composition of the forest and the quantity and quality of the trees that the AAC is based upon. The AAC based on ‘removals’ is always greater than the amount of timber that may be marketed because some timber is wasted in the process of extraction and wood processing; this waste may be in the order of 25% to 50% (MOF, 2001).

AAC and Logging Quotas
The AACs were revised in the 1990s and again in the early 2000s (see Table 1). Before the initial AAC changes in the 1990s, both for teak and for other hardwoods, the values had not changed for over 30 years. They were based on partial surveys done in the early 1960s (as the areas that contained most of the valuable timber were not under government control at that time), which were then extrapolated to the whole country and set at a level that would theoretically ensure sustainable timber production over the entire nation’s territory. However, as many areas of the country were inaccessible due to insurgency and civil war (as is the case today, albeit to a lesser degree), the AAC for the entire country was harvested in only those parts of the country that were accessible by the government. This inevitably led to over-exploitation and is a major flaw of the established AAC figures even if precisely followed. The forest inventories that are used to set the local AAC are extrapolations based on samples, rather than a full ‘contouring’ exercise, leading again to less precise AAC figures even if followed correctly.

In moist teak forests the minimum diameter at breast height limit is 73 centimeters, while in dry forests (central Myanmar) the diameter limit is 63 centimeters. The fixed diameter limit for other hardwoods varies across species. Teak trees are girdled 2-3 years before harvesting to enable drying to facilitate transportation by water (MOF 1995).