There is optimism that Myanmar will commit to sustainable forest management and enact reforms across land tenure, agriculture and forestry that do not harm the poor.

An article on the Forests News blog of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) reports on a presentation by U Win Tun, the Union Minister for Environmental Conservation and Forestry at the Forests Asia Summit, saying the country was taking steps to change its economic path from “brown to green”.

Tun says Myanmar has an opportunity to stay away from the unsustainable deforestation practices of many of its neighboring countries.

But there are fears that agricultural development in the newly ‘opened up’ nation may be driven by large-scale commercial plantations, benefitting private investors not smallholder farmers.

One alternative may be through reviving the traditional community-based agroforestry system known as taungya which would benefit both people and forests.

During the summit, the need for more research in Myanmar was discussed as well as policy development and capacity building. Steps in this direction have begun with Tun meeting in 2013 with representatives from the World Agroforestry Centre, CIFOR and the Center for People and Forests to discuss possible research collaboration.

Read the full story: Hopes rise for Myanmar to chart a greener path