Authorities attempt to preserve coastal areas in Myanmar

21 Jun 2019

Thet Naing | DMG

21 June, Sittwe

To restore Myanmar’s coastal areas that have been destroyed due to the ineffectiveness of the coastal management under successive governments, concerned authorities are carrying out a project to preserve the coastal areas, Dr Toe Aung, assistant director of the Forest Department in Arakan State said at an event introducing the coastal management held on 21 June.

Myanmar’s coastal area is 3000 kilometers in total and co-management among regional departments could prevent the coastal areas from being destroyed further, the assistant director said.

“Under successive governments, coastal management was conducted according to regional authorities. But there was no cooperation among them. So, there were flaws in the preservation process of the coastal areas,” he said.

Thaninthayi, Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady Regions and Mon and Arakan States have coastal areas and multi-sector coastal management has been introduced in relevant regions to conserve the coastal areas.

“Arakan State is the fifth area to introduce the coastal management. We introduced coastal management four times in other regions. We have yet to do it in Bago Region,” Dr Toe Aung said.

He added that the community’s cooperation is essential in carrying out coastal management while authorities and experts are trying to preserve the coastal areas.