Lacking manpower and gunpowder, Forest Department struggles to curb illegal logging: official 

By DMG 04 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
4 February 2022, Sittwe 

A Forest Department official says his department is understaffed and unarmed, a combination hampering efforts to track down timber smugglers across Arakan State. 

“The rangers have no weapons and are understaffed, making it difficult to arrest timber smugglers everywhere. Forest officials can only work with the military and the police to arrest illegal loggers,” the official, who asked for anonymity, told DMG. 

The Forest Department is nonetheless doing its best to arrest illegal loggers, according to the department official, who said remote areas are particularly difficult to patrol. 

Illegal logging has been increasing in Arakan State due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the military coup, said Dr. Maung Maung Kyi, chairman of the Rakhine Coastal Region Conservation Association (RCA). 

“The military seized power when people were facing economic hardship due to the Covid-19 epidemic. So some wealthy people are turning their attention to logging,” he explained. 

Large numbers of trees are being cut down from forests in Gwa, Thandwe, Taungup and Ann townships, which have limited forest cover to begin with, he said, emphasising the importance of putting a stop to illegal logging before it is too late.  

A villager in Arakan State’s Kyeintali sub-township told DMG that loggers were using backhoes to build roads in the mountains, using those routes to smuggle large quantities of timber. 

More than 5,000 tonnes of illegal timber were seized in Arakan State between October 2020 and August 2021, according to figures from the state’s Forest Department.