A new forest protection agreement between China and Burma could end the flow of illegal timber into Yunnan, according to Global Witness investigators operating in Burma, but the UK-based NGO is continuing to stress the need for action to ensure effective implementation of the agreement.

Global Witness has continued to track developments along the border since the release, in October last year, of its report A Choice for China: Ending the Destruction of Burma’s Northern Frontier Forests. The report concluded that 90% of timber crossing into Yunnan from Burma’s Kachin State was illegal and prompted both governments to sign a memorandum of understanding which pledged to increase cooperation on forestry issues and curb the illegal timber trade.

Burmese sources announced details of the forest protection agreement to Global Witness during interviews in February. A posting on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms this and states that China will join forces with the Burmese government to control the 1,300 mile border and put an end to the import of illegal timber.

Global Witness has welcomed the move in a press statement and “looks forward to prompt and demonstrable implementation [of the plan],” which Global Witness hopes will be a blue-print “to remove all illegal timber from China’s supply chain.”

“There is a pressure to respond to the situation in Burma,” Professor Zuo Ting (左停 ) of the China Agricultural University confirmed to China Development Brief. The state Xinhua News Agency also quotes a spokesperson from the State Forestry Administration, as saying that it will “firmly crack down on illegal deforestation and illegal imports.”

However, concrete measures have yet to be made public and fresh evidence gathered by Global Witness in late February suggests that “at least 150 loaded log trucks are crossing the border from Burma into China every night.” The organisation estimates that the trade is worth USD 350 million per year.
“The Burmese and Chinese governments must move decisively to close the gap between the increasingly encouraging rhetoric and the reality on the ground”, said Mike Davis of Global Witness.

Report by Matt Perrement, 13 March 2006