The environmental group Global Witness has said in a report that the cash-strapped military regime in Rangoon and rebel groups on the border were cutting down teak, mandrake and Chinese coffin trees at an unsustainable rate with disastrous consequences for the environment, the habitat of forest dwellers and the chances for lasting peace in the country.
Although Burma has much of the world's last virgin forest - including 60% of the globe's teak trees - it is suffering the fastest deforestation in south-east Asia, itself the worst affected region in the world. The Burmese military junta's oppression of democrats and ethnic minorities has led to international condemnation and economic sanctions.
Isolated by the west, the generals have used "resource diplomacy" to win political, economic and military favours from China and Thailand in return for logging and mining concessions, the report said. The wood is used for everything from ornaments and flooring to doors and window frames, which are increasingly in demand in China's explosive economic growth.
Global Witness called on China to halt logging until an environmental assessment can be made. "China has started to protect its own environment now. We call on them to apply the same principles in Burma, but right now what they are doing is the exact opposite."
