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Palm Oil Drive Under Review in Tanintharyi
Palm Oil Drive Under Review in Tanintharyi
12/07/2016 (Myanmar Times) - A 30-year plan launched in 1999 to turn the region into Myanmar’s “oil bowl” has run into problems, Tanintharyi Region’s Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Minister U Myint San told The Myanmar Times.
The government had planned to plant 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of oil palm in the region, rising to 700,000 acres by 2030, he said. But yields have been lower than expected due to a failure to carry out proper research, while controversies over land use have led to disputes with local residents.
The main aim of the project was to meet domestic oil needs, U Myint San said, but planned extensions to the plantation area have met with resistance. “To reduce the impact on local residents and to prevent further environmental degradation, we will seek to increase yield instead of extending the plantation area,” he said.
The former government wanted to meet local consumption needs, raise living standards and attract foreign investment, said U Saw Min Aung, assistant supervisor at the agriculture department’s Perennial Crops Division.
“But of the 500,000 acres they planned to allocate [to oil palm], only 36 percent has been planted, in Kawthoung, Myeik and Dawei townships,” he said. “The crop was supposed to be planted across 700,000 acres by 2030, when the population will have risen to about 80 million people. If we increase the yield, we can reduce the acreage.”
A recent report by conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI) said the previous government had handed more than 1 million acres to 44 oil palm companies in the three townships, but only five of the companies had grown plantations.
The process should be more methodical, said U Myint San. “An official should inspect the area before allocating land for palm plantation, rather than just looking at a map, and the companies should plant as quickly as they can after clearing the forest so as not to degrade the ecosystem. We cannot stop oil palm planting, but it has to be done systematically.”
Former governments have given little thought to selecting the best seeds to boost yield, while research has been limited, said U Htun Htun Htwe, a director at the agriculture department.
“To ensure sustainable development, we hope to produce quality seeds and build an oil plant in cooperation with local and foreign companies,” he said. “There were limitations in the [previous] government’s policy due to a lack of funding for research, but the [current] government’s policy favours studies to help both companies and local residents.”
FFI recently urged the government to halt oil palm development until the impact is better understood and stronger policies are in place to protect the country’s last remaining lowland rainforest in Tanintharyi Region.
“Most plantations are clearing high-conservation-value forests, and many companies are even clearing land outside their concession boundary,” said FFI Myanmar program director Frank Momberg in a statement.
“That is why we are calling on the government to declare a complete moratorium on palm oil development that means no new forest clearing and no new licences ... until we can be sure that these plantations are sustainable.”
In the past, land was allocated for palm oil plantations by the central government, often without a local survey, said Zaw Win, Myanmar oil palm plantation expert and former forests department official.
“In my experience, the former government decided to allocate land within a very short time. Their only emphasis was on starting projects quickly,” he said. “They wanted to support local oil consumption to reduce oil imports, and local companies followed their directives. That is the source of the current controversies over land allocation.”
The government had planned to plant 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of oil palm in the region, rising to 700,000 acres by 2030, he said. But yields have been lower than expected due to a failure to carry out proper research, while controversies over land use have led to disputes with local residents.
The main aim of the project was to meet domestic oil needs, U Myint San said, but planned extensions to the plantation area have met with resistance. “To reduce the impact on local residents and to prevent further environmental degradation, we will seek to increase yield instead of extending the plantation area,” he said.
The former government wanted to meet local consumption needs, raise living standards and attract foreign investment, said U Saw Min Aung, assistant supervisor at the agriculture department’s Perennial Crops Division.
“But of the 500,000 acres they planned to allocate [to oil palm], only 36 percent has been planted, in Kawthoung, Myeik and Dawei townships,” he said. “The crop was supposed to be planted across 700,000 acres by 2030, when the population will have risen to about 80 million people. If we increase the yield, we can reduce the acreage.”
A recent report by conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI) said the previous government had handed more than 1 million acres to 44 oil palm companies in the three townships, but only five of the companies had grown plantations.
The process should be more methodical, said U Myint San. “An official should inspect the area before allocating land for palm plantation, rather than just looking at a map, and the companies should plant as quickly as they can after clearing the forest so as not to degrade the ecosystem. We cannot stop oil palm planting, but it has to be done systematically.”
Former governments have given little thought to selecting the best seeds to boost yield, while research has been limited, said U Htun Htun Htwe, a director at the agriculture department.
“To ensure sustainable development, we hope to produce quality seeds and build an oil plant in cooperation with local and foreign companies,” he said. “There were limitations in the [previous] government’s policy due to a lack of funding for research, but the [current] government’s policy favours studies to help both companies and local residents.”
FFI recently urged the government to halt oil palm development until the impact is better understood and stronger policies are in place to protect the country’s last remaining lowland rainforest in Tanintharyi Region.
“Most plantations are clearing high-conservation-value forests, and many companies are even clearing land outside their concession boundary,” said FFI Myanmar program director Frank Momberg in a statement.
“That is why we are calling on the government to declare a complete moratorium on palm oil development that means no new forest clearing and no new licences ... until we can be sure that these plantations are sustainable.”
In the past, land was allocated for palm oil plantations by the central government, often without a local survey, said Zaw Win, Myanmar oil palm plantation expert and former forests department official.
“In my experience, the former government decided to allocate land within a very short time. Their only emphasis was on starting projects quickly,” he said. “They wanted to support local oil consumption to reduce oil imports, and local companies followed their directives. That is the source of the current controversies over land allocation.”