Timber smuggling from Myanmar to India has escalated with long-term adverse consequences for the region, which is among the top ten biodiversity hotspots.

A conservative estimate of the volume and value of illegally imported timber from Myanmar stands at a whopping $40 million annually. The items smuggled are primarily teak, gurjan, Burmese lacquer and white teak — all of which are in high demand in India.

Large-scale import of timber from Myanmar’s Sagaing Region and Chin State into India through multiple routes in the Indian border state of Manipur is facilitated by an interplay of many factors, such as poverty, weak governance, involvement of local communities and rebel groups, and the connivance of government officials on both sides of the India-Myanmar border.

These conclusions were part of a research paper titled “Cross-border illegal logging and timber trade in the Indian state of Manipur, and Myanmar: causes, actors, routes and volumes” by H. Isworchandra Sharma and L. Thoudam, which was published in the International Forestry Review.

The study examined the nature of illegal logging and the timber trade along the international border in the Indian border states of Manipur and Myanmar, delineating the causes, actors, volumes and value, and the routes of the timber trade. The findings were based on extensive fieldwork in the border zones, including interviews with loggers, traders, drivers, village chiefs and government officials.

The researchers identified the increasing demand for timber products from the growing population and timber-based industries in India as among the main factors spurring the trade. The demand received a further boost after Myanmar imposed a ban on timber exports in 2014. Incidentally, in 2007, the Indian government allowed timber to be imported from Myanmar.

The paper noted that the ban impacted Indian traders and firms producing plywood and veneer and led to processing factories being established in Myanmar. The search for ways to meet their raw material requirement from Myanmar led to “the penetration of veneer and plywood industries in northeastern states such as Assam and Nagaland.”  Similar factories surfaced in Manipur after the state government decided to upgrade the existing sawmills to higher timber-based industries.

A 2016 study by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) revealed that India is the third largest importer of illegally logged timber in the world, after China and Vietnam.  The annual import value was estimated at over 40 billion Indian rupees ($0.43 billion), which constituted close to 10 percent of the global illegal wood trade.

The illegal timber trade from Myanmar is so well organized in India that Burmese teak is sold on several online outlets in the country. This correspondent also found such items being sold openly at two timber shops in Assam’s capital, Guwahati, which is the gateway to the country’s northeastern region.

The study points out that the porous border, lax surveillance and poverty of the communities residing along the border also facilitate the trade. A large number of stakeholders, such as timber traders, intermediaries, rebel groups, village authorities, and government officials on both sides of the border, are involved.

The research found that while transporting the timber from Myanmar to India, the Myanmar army collects 100,000 Kyat ($50.38) per load as a transit tax, while forest officials and police collect another 900,000 Kyat per load ($453.48).  In Manipur, timber illegally imported from Myanmar is legitimized with the Manipur government imposing a transit pass fee. There have been instances of timber from Myanmar being seized by the Assam Rifles and forest officials. However, the confiscated timber was released either through payment of a transit pass fee or through auction.

In sum, corruption, poverty of the people living in border areas, conflicts, and weak institutions and governance are key factors that facilitate illegal logging. The incessant extraction of timber in the frontier region will have long-term consequences in the form of environmental ruin and climate change in the years ahead.