IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i11p3047-d235512.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of Forest Deforestation and its Driving Factors in Myanmar from 1988 to 2017

Author

Listed:
  • Rongfeng Yang

    (School of Tourism and Geographical Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
    The Engineering Research Center of GIS Technology in Western China of Ministry of Education of China, Kunming 650500, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Yi Luo

    (The Engineering Research Center of GIS Technology in Western China of Ministry of Education of China, Kunming 650500, China
    School of Information Science and Technology, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China)

  • Kun Yang

    (The Engineering Research Center of GIS Technology in Western China of Ministry of Education of China, Kunming 650500, China
    School of Information Science and Technology, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Liang Hong

    (School of Tourism and Geographical Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
    The Engineering Research Center of GIS Technology in Western China of Ministry of Education of China, Kunming 650500, China)

  • Xiaolu Zhou

    (Department of Geology and Geography, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30485, USA)

Abstract

Myanmar, abundant in natural resources, is one of the countries with high forest cover in Southeast Asia. Along with its rapid socio-economic development, however, the construction of large-scale infrastructure, expansion of agricultural land, and an increasing demand for timber products have posed serious threats to the forests and significantly affected regional sustainable development. However, the geographical environment in Myanmar is complex, resulting in the lack of long-term sequence of land cover data products. Based on 30 years’ Landsat satellite remote sensing imagery data and the land cover data extracted by a mixed classification method, this paper examined the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of forest cover in Myanmar and investigated driving factors of the spatio-temporal evolution. Results show that the forest cover has decreased by 110,621 km 2 in the past 30 years with the annual deforestation rate of 0.87%. Cropland expansion is the main reason for the deforestation throughout the study period. The study can provide basic information of the forest cover data to the Myanmar government for ecological environment protection. At the same time, it can provide important support to the “Belt and Road” initiative to invest in the region’s economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Rongfeng Yang & Yi Luo & Kun Yang & Liang Hong & Xiaolu Zhou, 2019. "Analysis of Forest Deforestation and its Driving Factors in Myanmar from 1988 to 2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3047-:d:235512
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3047/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3047/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward B. Barbier, 2004. "Explaining Agricultural Land Expansion and Deforestation in Developing Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1347-1353.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francis Rathinam & Sayak Khatua & Zeba Siddiqui & Manya Malik & Pallavi Duggal & Samantha Watson & Xavier Vollenweider, 2021. "Using big data for evaluating development outcomes: A systematic map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), September.
    2. Shrestha, Manish & Piman, Thanapon & Grünbühel, Clemens, 2021. "Prioritizing key biodiversity areas for conservation based on threats and ecosystem services using participatory and GIS-based modeling in Chindwin River Basin, Myanmar," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    3. Zaw Naing Tun & Paul Dargusch & DJ McMoran & Clive McAlpine & Genia Hill, 2021. "Patterns and Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Myanmar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Taher M. Radwan, 2019. "Monitoring Agricultural Expansion in a Newly Reclaimed Area in the Western Nile Delta of Egypt Using Landsat Imageries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Shuai Chen & Fangyu Ding & Mengmeng Hao & Dong Jiang, 2020. "Mapping the Potential Global Distribution of Red Imported Fire Ant ( Solenopsis invicta Buren) Based on a Machine Learning Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-13, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Araujo, Claudio & Bonjean, Catherine Araujo & Combes, Jean-Louis & Combes Motel, Pascale & Reis, Eustaquio J., 2009. "Property rights and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2461-2468, June.
    2. Sébastien Marchand, 2011. "Technical Efficiency, Farm Size and Tropical Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonian Forest," Working Papers halshs-00552981, HAL.
    3. Anette Reenberg & Issoufou Maman & Ibrahim Bouzou Moussa & Bjarne Fog, 2013. "Land Saturation in SE Niger: Triangulating Qualitative and Quantitative Information for Critical Assessment of Land Use Trajectories," Land, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-26, September.
    4. Ajanaku, B.A. & Collins, A.R., 2021. "Economic growth and deforestation in African countries: Is the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis applicable?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    5. Annie Mwai Mapulanga & Hisahiro Naito, 2018. "Does A Higher Population Growth Cause Deforestation? : A Study of Malawi's Rapid Deforestation," Tsukuba Economics Working Papers 2018-005, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
    6. Combes Motel, P. & Pirard, R. & Combes, J.-L., 2009. "A methodology to estimate impacts of domestic policies on deforestation: Compensated Successful Efforts for "avoided deforestation" (REDD)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 680-691, January.
    7. Bösch, Matthias & Elsasser, Peter & Wunder, Sven, 2019. "Why do payments for watershed services emerge? A cross-country analysis of adoption contexts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 111-119.
    8. Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES & Catherine ARAUJO BONJEAN & Claudio ARAUJO & Eustaquio J. REIS, 2010. "Does Land Tenure Insecurity Drive Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?," Working Papers 201013, CERDI.
    9. repec:idb:brikps:64718 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Erwin Bulte & Edward Barbier, 2005. "Trade and Renewable Resources in a Second Best World: An Overview," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 30(4), pages 423-463, April.
    11. Sonia SCHWARTZ & Jean Galbert ONGONO OLINGA & Eric Nazindigouba KERE & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES & Johanna CHOUMERT & Ariane Manuela AMIN, 2014. "A spatial econometric approach to spillover effects between protected areas and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Working Papers 201406, CERDI.
    12. Lippert, Christian, 2005. "Is Certification a Promising Way to Ensure Sustainable Resource Use? An Analysis Based on the Concept of 'Self-Enforcing Contracts'," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24563, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Köthke, Margret & Leischner, Bettina & Elsasser, Peter, 2013. "Uniform global deforestation patterns — An empirical analysis," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 23-37.
    14. Abman, Ryan & Carney, Conor, 2020. "Land rights, agricultural productivity, and deforestation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Godoy, Ricardo & Reyes-García, Victoria & Vadez, Vincent & Leonard, William R. & Tanner, Susan & Huanca, Toms & Wilkie, David, 2009. "The relation between forest clearance and household income among native Amazonians: Results from the Tsimane' Amazonian panel study, Bolivia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1864-1871, April.
    16. Samuel GUERINEAU & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES, 2008. "Deforestation and credit cycles in Latin American countries," Working Papers 200808, CERDI.
    17. Todd Benson & Tewodaj Mogues, 2018. "Constraints in the fertilizer supply chain: evidence for fertilizer policy development from three African countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(6), pages 1479-1500, December.
    18. Schwerhoff, Gregor & Wehkamp, Johanna, 2018. "Export tariffs combined with public investments as a forest conservation policy instrument," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 69-84.
    19. Culas, Richard J., 2012. "REDD and forest transition: Tunneling through the environmental Kuznets curve," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 44-51.
    20. Krystof Obidzinski & Ahmad Dermawan & Adi Hadianto, 2014. "Oil palm plantation investments in Indonesia’s forest frontiers: limited economic multipliers and uncertain benefits for local communities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1177-1196, December.
    21. Naveed Alam & Eve Bohnett & Muhammad Zafar & Hassan Sher & Bilal Ahmad & Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan & Mushtaq Ahmad & Zahid Ullah & Ahmad Ali & Shujaul Mulk Khan & Kashmala Syed, 2023. "Impact of Anthropogenic Threats on Species Diversity: A Case Study of the Sub-Himalayan Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests of Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3047-:d:235512. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.