Contribution of Mangrove Forest to the Livelihood of Local Communities in Ayeyarwaddy Region, Myanmar

Wai Nyein Aye,Kim Marin,Shivaraj Thapa,Aung W Tun,Yali Wen

doi:10.3390/f10050414

Abstract

Myanmar’s forests are socially and economically significant to the country because over 70% of the country’s population depends on natural resources for daily needs. We conducted this study with the aim of assessing the extent to which direct and indirect (tangible) benefits of mangrove forest contribute to local livelihoods in the Ayeyarwaddy Region, Myanmar. We used a questionnaire survey (n = 185 households), interview and group discussion for data collection. The study shows that 43% of total household income is generated through selling of forest products collected from the mangrove forest such as firewood, fishes, crabs and prawn, whereas agricultural and non-farm incomes were found to be 25% and 32% of total income, respectively. The result prevails that income from the mangrove forest products for fish, crab, prawn and firewood is specifically 36%, 28%, 9% and 27%, respectively. Hence, we confirmed that local livelihood mainly depends on the mangrove forest ecosystem.

Highlights

According to the World Alas of Mangrove, Myanmar is the seventh largest mangrove area covering 3.3% of the world’s landmass [1]
A total of 185 sample households were interviewed from two villages of Bogalay Township, Ayeyarwaddy Region of Myanmar
Income from mangrove forest products, agricultural income and non-farm income are the sources of local people for fulfilling their subsistence needs

Summary

Introduction

According to the World Alas of Mangrove, Myanmar is the seventh largest mangrove area covering 3.3% of the world’s landmass [1]. Making Myanmar the fourth largest mangrove coverage in Asia after Malaysia, Bangladesh and. Mangroves in Myanmar extensively grow throughout the coastal strip of the country, providing ecosystem goods and services to coastal communities as well as all other parts of the country. Mangrove forest in Myanmar is rich in biodiversity. It has 34 mangrove tree species out of the global total of around 70 mangrove tree species. Of the total Myanmar primary mangroves, the majority is located on Ayeyarwady floodplains, with the remainder in Tanintharyi and a lesser portion in the Rakhine area

Results

Discussion

Conclusion