Approximately 70 % of Myanmar’s population resides in rural areas, and most rural households rely on forest resources for their livelihood. Characterizing patterns of forest resource utilization by forest-dependent people is critically important for developing strategies to mitigate forest degradation and deforestation as well as for forest conservation in Myanmar. We reviewed the socioeconomic aspects of non-timber forest product (NTFP) utilization in Myanmar to evaluate the current status of our knowledge of NTFPs and their contributions to the livelihoods of rural people in Myanmar to clarify paths for commercializing NTFPs. Our findings confirmed that the rural population heavily depends on NTFPs. In light of the important role that NTFPs play in enhancing the livelihoods of rural communities in Myanmar, more studies of NTFP commercialization and forest and biodiversity conservation practices, especially regional field studies, are needed.

The relationship between non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and deforestation can determine the extent to which the livelihoods of individuals in resource-dependent communities can be sustained and the strategies to conserve the forest for sustainable utilization. Here, the relationship between deforestation and commercial production of the NTFPs from natural forests in Myanmar was examined. We performed multiple regression to predict the deforestation from different type of NTFPs and demographic factors. Population density is the most contributing factors to deforestation while fuel wood production and diversity of wood extractive NTFPs were significant among the different groups of NTFPs to predict deforestation (R²＝0.421, p<001). The commercial production of wood extracts was interestingly found as a promising factor that can reduce deforestation. Shifting the market demand to the extractive products from woody trees can maintain the forests for the sustainable use to secure the rural livelihood. Capacity building on the harvesting skill and processing of the wood extracts become crucial in conservation of the host trees. Market chain analysis of the products in optimizing commercial value of the products as well as information on the resource availability are not the least to be considered in NTFPs commercialization and sustainable forest management.

The Myanmar Forest Department governs non-timber forest product (NTFP) commercialization through 10-year forest management plan. The forest management plan targets future production based on records of NTFP production and current estimated NTFP stocks using forest inventory data from different districts. The plan focuses on forest environmental factors rather than including other potential factors that promote sustainable and successful commercialization. However, planning for districts separately without being aware of commercialized NTFP conditions in surrounding districts, may lead forest department staff to either underestimate the potential to boost future NTFP commercialization or fail to prevent over-extraction by reducing the targeted production in their district. We investigated whether spatial and temporal patterns of NTFPs production differed among adjoining districts. We carried out a spatio-temporal analysis of commercialized NTFPs to show the production patterns across 22 districts located in four administrative zones. The analysis was performed on five NTFPs categories: (i) food & medicine, (ii) wood fuel, (iii) raw material, (iv) fragrance wood, and (v) spices, by looking at the annual production of NTFPs from 2006 to 2014. We found that neighboring districts with similar forest environments had significant differences in spatio-temporal production patterns for many NTFPs. In particular, some districts had important commercial production of fragrance wood and spices, while their neighboring districts had not commercialized these NTFPs. Our study found other influencing factors besides forest environment that explained production patterns for different NTFPs at the district level, including seasonal collection, location, and market demand. We recommend that the Myanmar Forest Department investigates local factors influencing commercialization at the district level and uses them as additional input for developing the next 10-year forest management plan to promote successful NTFP commercialization.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are essential for rural livelihoods but are often threatened by deforestation and overexploitation. Rauvolfia serpentina is a critical NTFP species; however, there have been no studies on the impact of future climate change on its potential habitat distribution. We used the Maxent modeling approach to address this knowledge gap and determine this species’ current and future suitability under climate change scenarios. The areas more suitable to its occurrence were mainly located near the southwestern coastal regions of Myanmar and India. Based on our predictions, these ‘very high’ suitability areas are likely to decrease in 2070 under both low and high CO₂ emission scenarios, indicating the future vulnerability of this species’ habitat to the impact of climate change. This species is a highly valued NTFP species in the study region; therefore, such a reduction in habitat suitability may result in reductions in NTFP production and economic benefits for the dependent populations. Our findings can help define and conserve areas containing the natural habitats of this high-valued NTFP species.

Tiger grass (Thysanolaena latifolia Honda), a perennial grass often found in the swidden fallows of South and Southeast Asia, is one of the most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in Myanmar. It is traditionally used to make brooms for not only domestic consumption but also for export to other countries. This note presents preliminary analyses on domestic and export markets for Myanmar tiger grass brooms based on an interview survey on the market chain of tiger grass products from Taunggya Village in the Southern Shan State in January 2020 and export statistics for past 10 years. To aid our survey, we reviewed information on prices of tiger grass and its products in Myanmar. From the interview survey, we estimated that value-added prices of tiger grass products between producers and traders increase by almost double at the grass processing stage and by 5−8 times at the broom manufacturing stage around the Taunggya Village. On the other hand, exports of tiger grass (as raw material and broom products) drastically increased from 2014, suggesting increasing demand for tiger grass supply from local communities. The recent decline of swidden farming in Myanmar, however, replaced by permanent farming may result in habitat loss of tiger grass that grows only in the early stages of swidden fallows, which might lead to need for cultivation in some region to meet increasing demand for tiger grass.

Forest resources have the potential to act as a safety net for those who live in or migrate to rural areas. The aim of this study was to assess the difference in dependence on forest resources between first generation migrants and their descendants in a village in the southern Shan State of Myanmar that includes different ethnic groups and has experienced population growth. Their perceptions of collective action for sustainable forest resource management were also analyzed. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with households, interviews with key informants, and focus group discussions. The first generation had a greater diversity of income sources than the second generation; in addition, households that earned income from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) were found to have a lower total annual income than those that did not, across the generations. This result demonstrates the function of NTFPs as a safety net for rural migrants whose livelihood is dependent on forest resources. Furthermore, participation by first and second generation migrants in collective action for sustainable forest resource management was found to be low. Rather, the heterogeneity of villagers should be taken into consideration by policy makers and implementing agencies for sustainable forest resource governance.