Denmark to support additional $700k for restoration of mangroves in Arakan, Tanintharyi

By Thet Paing 01 Dec 2020

Thet Paing | DMG
1 December 2020, Sittwe

Denmark will provide more than US$700,000 for the restoration of mangrove forests in coastal areas of Arakan State and Tanintharyi Region, according to the Danish Embassy in Myanmar.

The commitment was made by Danish Ambassador to Myanmar John Nielsen at a Steering Committee Meeting for the Danish-funded programme on Climate Adaptation in Coastal Communities held on November 30.

The five-year project was drawn up for the restoration of mangroves in Arakan State and Tanintharyi’s Myeik District from 2018 to 2023, with Denmark providing US$5.5 million, said Dr. Toe Toe Aung, an officer from the Mangrove Conservation Unit under the Forest Department.

“We will focus on the reforestation of mangroves in Sittwe and Kyaukphyu districts in Arakan State and Myeik District in Tanintharyi Region. The tasks are being carried out by the Forest Department,” Dr. Toe Toe Aung explained.

The mangrove project includes replanting of trees and restoration of forests owned by local people, as well as socioeconomic development initiatives, with population pressures being a leading cause of mangrove depletion, said U Chit Hlaing Win, director of the Kyaukphyu District Forest Department.

“Immediate benefits upon completion of the project will be the increase in mangrove areas, the increase in forest areas owned by local people and development measures of villagers will have been implemented. Their socioeconomic situations will improve more than before,” he added.

Fish and prawn populations are expected to benefit as the mangroves are their breeding grounds.

Expansion of prawn farms and over-harvesting of mangrove forests for firewood are the main reasons for depletion of mangrove forests in Arakan State, according to Sein-Pyar, a local nature conservation group in Sittwe.

Nationwide, there are an estimated 502,911 hectares of mangrove forests in the country’s coastal areas. Arakan State constitutes 17%, Ayeyarwady Region has 46% and Tanintharyi Region accounts for 37%.