JICA(Japan International Cooperation Agency) Partnership Program
Though the plant resources (economically important plants) in Myanmar still remain rich, their sustainability is endangered by the accelerating disturbance such as illegal collecting, shifting cultivation etc. Unless countermeasures are taken so as to realize the conservation and sustainable use of such plant resources, the people of Myanmar, especially villagers and those of rural communities whose life largely depends on plant resources, will soon face serious problems in their economy.
This unfortunate situation is caused mainly by a lack of qualified specialists and leaders, causing the delay of economic botanical inventory and education of people in local communities in relation. The urgent need, therefore, is to ameliorate this situation, for which training of related specialists, especially systematic/economic botanists, park rangers and extension officers is necessary to wake up and move the people of rural communities toward the appropriate managements of forests and other natural areas.
With the objective of protecting plant resources and establishing its sustainable use, the Forest Department (FD), the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry of Myanmar and the Kochi Prefectural Makino Memorial Foundation Inc. (MBK) jointly started a project supported by JICA partnership Program from 2006.
