Greater Mekong countries 'lost one-third of forest cover in 40 years'

John Vidal in the Guardian (UK): Five Asian countries have lost nearly one-third of their forests in the last 35 years and could be left with little more than 10-20% of their original cover by 2030 – with devastating effects on wildlife and humans, a new report suggests.

Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam have lost nearly 40m hectares (ha) of forest cover since 1980 but have retained about 98m ha of natural forest, just over half of the region's land area.

Using satellite data, the WWF researchers calculated that since 1980, Cambodia has lost 22% of its 1973 forest cover, Laos and Burma 24%, and Thailand and Vietnam 43%.

The report on ecosystems in the greater Mekong area warns that these countries risk losing more than one-third of their remaining forest cover within the next two decades if they fail to increase protection.

"The greater Mekong is at a crossroads," said Peter Cutter, landscape conservation manager with WWF-Greater Mekong. "One path leads to further declines in biodiversity and livelihoods, but if natural resources are managed responsibly, this region can pursue a course that will secure a healthy and prosperous future for its people."...

A Thai rain forest, shot by Michael Cory, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Burma floods leave 85,000 homeless in Irrawaddy Delta

BBC: The Burmese government has said that 85,000 people have been driven from their homes by heavy flooding.

The Irrawaddy Delta - where 130,000 people died in a cyclone in 2008 - has been worst affected. Unusually heavy monsoon rains have inundated around 250,000 hectares of rice fields.

President Thein Sein has visited the affected areas, but damaged transport and communications networks mean the full picture is still emerging.

The government says it has set up more than 200 emergency relief centres to help those who have had to leave their homes.

Next year's rice harvest is also expected to be significantly affected. Rice is a key export for Burma and the staple diet for most of the population...

Cyclone Nargis has never been ‘natural’

An opinion piece in the Irrawaddy News by Sai Soe Winn Latt: Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC last week that Cyclone Nargis had been turned into a "man-made catastrophe" from a natural disaster because of the negligence of the ruling generals. While Mr. Brown is right that Cyclone Nargis has been turned into a “man-made catastrophe,” it may also be the result of man-made economic, political and historical factors.

…Cyclone Nargis is a political problem because of the isolationist, xenophobic views of Burma’s military government. The junta misinformed the people about the cyclone, and also failed to take appropriate action before and after the storm. According to M. Maharatra, the director of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), regular advisories were issued, starting on April 26, to the Burmese authorities that a strong cyclone would strike Burma.

…. Burma’s military governments have never had a disaster relief plan for just such an event as Cyclone Nargis. The area is home to hundreds of rivers and tributaries and only about 3 meters above sea level. The 2004 tsunami should have been taken as a warning.

When the winds and tides of the cyclone were over, the politics of aid began to unfold. Regardless of the dead and homeless, the junta refused to allow international communities to help the victims.…Shamelessly, the junta seized the World Food Programme’s aid supplies and deported some aid workers….

China, India and the Asian countries have also contributed to the present problem by their hands-off policies which have in effect reinforced the regime’s hubris, leading up to the current international stand off…..

Cyclone Nargis makes landfall, NASA, Wikimedia Commons

Myanmar relief effort -- a selection of stories

Sabah

WRAPUP 2-Aid trickles in for Myanmar's cyclone survivors Reuters India, India - 6 hours ago By Aung Hla Tun YANGON, May 14 (Reuters) - The 1.5 million people left destitute by Myanmar's devastating cyclone were increasingly desperate on Wednesday, ... Video: First US Aid Hits Myanmar AssociatedPressWHO says no cholera among Myanmar cyclone victims San Diego Union Tribune Myanmar regime accused of hoarding cyclone aid The Associated Press Hartford Courant - The Moscow Times all 4,309 news articles »

Thai News Agency MCOT

New storm head toward cyclone-devastated Myanmar The Associated Press - 1 hour ago YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Another powerful storm is headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta and the UN is warning of a second wave of deaths. ... Aid Begins to Reach Myanmar Cyclone Survivors Environment News Service Help needed: aid experts for Myanmar cyclone ReliefWeb (press release) Myanmar tells Thai PM that cyclone situation under control, no ... International Herald Tribune Xinhua - Reuters all 119 news articles »

World fears for plight of Myanmar cyclone victims
Reuters - 13 hours ago
By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - International fears about the plight of 1.5 million victims in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar deepened on Tuesday as the United ...
Britain urges UN meet on Burma The Times
Myanmar and China's natural disasters: Good relief, bad relief, no ... San Francisco Chronicle
Myanmar children in danger from abusers Bombay News
Euronews.net - Globe and Mail
all 468 news articles »

Burma exports rice as cyclone victims starve

The Independent: Burma is still exporting rice even as it tries to curb the influx of international donations of food bound for the starving survivors of the cyclone that killed up to 116,000 people....The Burmese regime, which has a monopoly on the country's rice exports, said it planned to meet all its contractual commitments.

With rice prices hitting a record high after more than doubling since January, the exports are a valuable source of foreign revenue for the junta and its allies. The fear is that with the rice-growing area in the Irrawaddy delta inundated with salt water from the huge tidal wave, Burma may need to import greater amounts of rice this year. Alarm at the prospect fuelled another spurt in rice prices during the week. The continuing rice sales looked like just another facet of the Burmese regime's insensitivity to the suffering of its own people as it continues to block international relief to cyclone victims and pressed ahead with the constitutional referendum yesterday. The Burmese leader, General Than Shwe, has urged people to vote 'yes' .

Shot of an archway in Rangoon by a US State Department employee, Wikimedia Commons