Nay Pyi Taw, 23 June 2017
UN-REDD Programme in Myanmar held Ministerial Meeting engaging with Ministry of Border Affairs (MoBA) at Park Royal Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on 23 June. It is aiming to ensure that the departments under the key ministries are aware of the proposed policies and measures for Draft National REDD+ strategy. General Than Htut, Deputy Union Minister of Border Affairs accompanied with high-level officials, and 150 personnel from the ministry attended the meeting.
In his opening remark, Deputy Union Minister General Than Htut said, “For sustainable development, we must take action not only on economic and social development of the country but also on environmental conservation as a whole. Myanmar government cooperating with respective technicians and specialists has been working on forest conservation which helps harmonize our ecosystem in reducing the impacts of the climate changes that can harm the country’s social and economic development badly. I strongly recommend to put more effort on awareness raising and knowledge sharing activities to educate the people on the importance of environmental conservation.”
Deputy Union Minister also stressed the importance of forest conservation, “While our forest in the country helps us in the process of carbon storage and reduction of the green-house gases, we are also witnessing the high level of carbon emission due to the progressive development in industrial sectors in the country. Therefore, the time is now to start working on restoring and replanting the forests and conservation of the forest from deforestation and forest degradation.” He concluded that environmental conservation is a noble task for each and every citizen in handing over the clean and healthy environment to our future generations.
As a vital part of meeting to strengthen draft National REDD+ Strategy, the discussion with the officials was undertaken, focusing on the key questions addressed; “Are these policies and measures mentioned in the draft REDD+ strategy are sensible?” “Is there a role of MoBA in implementing these policies and measures?” “Which existing programmes of the Ministry are pursuing the same or similar results?” “Is there any lessons learnt from the existing programmes?”
REDD+ is a mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under which developing countries like Myanmar can obtain results-based payments from developed countries for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from forests. One of the requirements to qualify for results-based payments is preparation of a National REDD+ Strategy, which outlines the policies and measures that the country intends to implement to reduce emissions.
