This document discusses community forest enterprises (CFEs) in Myanmar. It provides background on CFEs, noting they were established legally in 2016 to allow communities to commercially use and profit from forest and farm products from community forests. As of 2019, there were over 600,000 acres of certified community forests. The document then discusses challenges facing CFEs like lack of capital, as well as opportunities like tourism. It provides an example of a coffee growing CFE and outlines future plans to expand CFEs and support them financially to protect forests and alleviate poverty.

1. Community Forest Enterprise
Ngwe TUN, Founder
Genius Shan Highlands Coffee (a member of Aung Nay Lin Htun Co., Ltd)

2.  Community Forest Enterprise (CFE)
 Current Status CFEs in Myanmar
 Challenges & Opportunities in CFEs
 Experiences & Learning in Coffee Growing at CF
 Future Plan for CFE
Topic will covered

3. Community Forest Enterprise (CFE)
 What is CFE ?
 entity that undertakes commercial business based on forests or trees. It is overseen by a credible
representative body. The enterprise can claim legitimacy within a self-defining community in terms of
people and area, and it generates and redistributes profits within that community”
 When ?
 The Community Forestry Instructions (CFI 1995) which the Forest Department of Myanmar has been
implementing since 1996 aims at satisfying the basic needs of the local community in terms of minor
forest products such as firewood, poles and posts.

4. Legal amendment of CFI in 2016
 Establishment of Community Forest Enterprises (CFEs) was a key point of the legal amendment of
Community Forestry Instructions (CFIs) in Myanmar in 2016 to make marketable forest and farm
products from CF in addition to provide basic needs
 As of March 2019, 614,579 acres (248,711 ha) of CFs certified by the Forest Department
 Covering 4,707 Community Forest User Groups (119,355 households).
 While progress is behind the 2030/31 target of 2.27 million acres (919,000 ha)

5. Vulnerablity Index
 A United Nations report ranks Myanmar among the three countries most vulnerable to extreme
weather events.
 As much as 3% of Myanmar’s GDP is lost annually due to disasters triggered by natural hazards.
 Extreme weather events and inconsistent weather patterns are anticipated to increase in both
frequency and intensity;
 The social and economic impact of such events can also be extremely high;

6. Road to the Community Forest
 Strong legal foundations provide significant opportunities
 Significant interest and goodwill for CF and CFE among relevant stakeholders
 From an economic perspective, CF and CFE have the potential for significant returns

7. Barriers to the Community Forest
 Limited physical assets restrict market opportunities for livelihood and CFE development.
 Issues related to human assets—specifically capacity of local Forest Department
 Communities are often given tenure to degraded forests
 Challenge of access to finance limits communities’ investment
 There are still gaps in formal networks that can limit learning between CFUGs

8. Potential commercial CF/CFE products

9. Experiences in Coffee Growing at CF
 Location : Shan State
 Township : Ywa Ngan
 Village : Kyaukku Lay
 Farmers : 7
 Size : 5 Acre
 Quantity : 5000 seedlings
 Initial Investment : 25 Lakhs
 Partial Funded
 Mr. Ngwe TUN, Genius Coffee
 Mr. Ueno, LANDMADE Coffee (Japan)

10. Initial Investment is KEY issues
 Land Preparation
 Building the Road
 Digging the Hole
 Natural Compost
 Transplanting
 Cost : 500-1000 Ks per seedling

11. Land Preparation

12. Building the Road

13. Digging the hole
 Spacing 1.5 m x 1.5 m
 60 cm diameter
 30 cm depth

14. Digging the hole
 Spacing 1.5 m x 1.5 m
 60 cm diameter
 30 cm depth

15. Natural Compost
 Cow Manure
 Dried Leaves

16. Natural Compost
 Cow Manure
 Dried Leaves

17. Transplanting

18. Transplanting

19. Community Forest & eco-Tourism
 There a number of Community
Forests which have potential as
tourist sites such as tropical
forest trail, bird watching, bio-
diversity exploring, waterfalls,
trekking and other activities

20. Half day Trek : Yar Gyi Forest Reserve
 Yar Gyi village committee is developing a proposal to set up
a Community Forest-Based enterprise, as part of the
Ecosystem Conservation and Community Development
Initiative under the supervision of U Ba Aung, the Chief
Community Leader in the village. The proposal is to grow
shade coffee in certain sections of the forest (with the
assistance of Genius Coffee), so as to provide income to Yar
Gyi Village.
 A guide is provided for the two-hour walk through the
forest, both for your own safety and the safety of the forest.
Foreign visitors need to register at the village, and basic
accommodation can be arranged for an overnight stay. The
walk takes you past rainforest gorges and through heavy
woodland. Birds and insects, especially locusts and
dragonflies, are in abundance.

21. A last mile defense to protect our environment
 The CFs are healthy and very well protected and looked after by FUGs.
 FUGs are enthusiastic and active, even wishing to scale up their existing CFs.
 The local Shan State government is supportive of the community forestry and its expansion.
Forest Department (FD), Township Cooperative and Administrative authorities are cooperative.
 It has been heartening to note that 36 CF enterprises have been so comfortably formed as
associations and a partnership between FUGs and Myanmar Bamboo and Rattan Products
Producers Association created.
 Thus, the future for CF enterprise is considered bright.

22. A last mile defense to protect our environment
 CF enterprises need investment to initiate production.
 They are afraid of any type of loans.
 The projects in the present context did not consider investment in assets.
 That was why Genius Coffee has presently to support the Ywangan CF enterprises with its own
core fund to produce value added coffee products.
 If, in the future, the international supports should include a funding mechanism for the CF
enterprises to start up the business, the market-led approach to CF
 It is ensured to satisfy its main objectives of alleviating rural poverty, enlarging and sustaining
forests and improving social justice

23. Growing local Economies & Supporting Environment

24. Did you know?
3rd largest absolute for forest loss globally
 Forest resources continue to be on the decline
 Primary drivers of deforestation
 Land use conversion
 Inconsistencies remain between policies and law
 Primary drivers of Forest degradation
 Forest Products and value chain issues
 Challenges to scale up community forest initiatives

25. Recommendation
 Improve enabling environment for small and medium
sized enterprises.
 Simplify approval process of community forestry
establishment, develop efficient delivery mechanism
for scaling up CF

26. Do you want to see Forest in Mueseum?

27. Thanks for your patient and participation.