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MONTANE MAINLAND
SOUTHEAST ASIA IN TRANSITION
by
Benjavan Rerkasem
Deanna Donovan
Kirk Talbott
November 1996
Agricultural Systems Programme
Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai, Thailand 50200
Program on Environment
East-West Center
Honolulu, Hawaii USA
Center for International Development and Environment
World Resources Institute
Washington, D.C. USA
Introduction
Mainland Southeast Asia is undergoing dramatic economic growth, arguably greater than any other region on
Earth. The once relatively isolated upland areas, constituting approximately one-half of the land area of the six
countries in this region, harbor an immense wealth of natural resources including globally important stocks of
biological diversity and a rich heritage of indigenous cultures. With many areas only recently reopened to
outside influences, both cultural institutions and the environment are experiencing profound and widespread
change in the transition to modernity. Remaining expanses of upland forest are under threat as the timber is
harvested, forest land converted to alternative uses, and traditional swidden fields transformed into orderly
plantations of cash-crop species. Massive infrastructure projects alter not only the physical but the social and
economic aspects of the landscape; thousands of people migrating into and within upland areas search for
better land and livelihood opportunities.
The current economic "boom" in China and Thailand is central to this regional dynamic. Although growth in
the developing countries overall slowed during 1995, the economies of those countries ringing the Southeast
Asia heartland, especially China, Malaysia, and Thailand, remained at the forefront with real growth rates of
well over 8 percent per year. Although Thailand's per capita GNP of USD 2410 (1994) is more than four times
that of China (USD 530) and almost ten times that of any of her smaller neighbors, the strength of the
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Chinese market increasingly dominates. What may be loosely termed the middle class in China totals in
excess of 700 million people, more than three times-the total population of all of mainland Southeast Asia;
over the past seven years consumer purchasing power in both China and Thailand has increased by twothirds (World Bank 1996). Given the current pace of economic growth with inflation predictors for Asia
remaining relatively low (9.9 percent as compared with 17.5 percent on average for the rest of the developing
world in 1995), it would seem that the pressure of consumer demand can only intensify (ITTO 1996).
The current scenario of rapid growth in China and Thailand resembles that of Japan in the 1950s and 1960s
and the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) of East Asia during the subsequent decade (ISEAS 1996). As
for their predecessors, the economic growth of China and Thailand depends in many sectors on the raw
materials imported from less-developed but resource-rich neighbors. With less than 8 percent of its original
tropical forest remaining, China imports four-fifths of the tropical timber it consumes. Virtually on par with
Thailand as fourth largest importer of tropical timber in 1993, in two years China had moved into second
place, tied with Taiwan (ITTO 1996). In Thailand, despite a ban on logging passed in 1989, restrictions on
timber transshipments imposed in 1993, a moratorium on sawmill licensing in 1995, the erosion of profits due
to higher timber costs, and an increasing dependence on imported raw material, output from the forest
products industry sector is increasing (FAO 1995). With a real growth rate nearly equal to that of Thailand,
Vietnam may soon be competing with Thailand for timber supplies in neighboring Laos and Cambodia. Given
regional growth rates and historic patterns of forest products consumption, the internal market for timber in
this region can be expected to grow.
Structural change in developing economies will alter the nature as well as the level of demand for energy as
well as raw materials. Thus, consumption of commercial energy increased 103 percent in mainland Southeast
Asia during the 1980s (WRI et al. 1996). Undoubtedly, rising energy demands in these economies will
increase pressure on forest lands, if not for materials outright then for watershed conservation. Initial
expansion of the industrial and tourism sectors in rural areas increases the demand for traditional fuels,
especially fuelwood, which often goes under-reported. Expansion of coal mining in Yunnan in past years led
to a rise in the demand for pit props (mining timber) with devastating effects on local forests. Currently in
Thailand the demand of urban consumers, including industry, for electricity puts powerful pressures on
government to support the construction of hydroelectric facilities in nearby mountainous regions (in this case
Laos), generating attendant demands for setting aside large areas for reservoirs and undisturbed catchment.
Understanding the true extent of the pressures on upland resources is difficult at best. Much of the crossborder movement of timber and other resources in this region goes unrecorded. In the log trade between
Myanmar and Thailand, for example, official figures from Myanmar report exports equal to only about I
percent of imports recorded by the Thai officials (ITTO 1996). The trade in wildlife and their products, used for
culinary as well as pharmaceutical purposes, is well-known. In the absence of effective controls, rapidly rising
consumer purchasing power, mainly in China, is having a devastating effect on wild plant and animal
populations in this region. Although the percentage of known bird species "threatened" with extinction is twice
as great in China as in Laos (UNEP 1993), the situation in Southeast Asia is rapidly deteriorating. Species
without specific market value are not exempt from such pressures; although free from human predation they
are threatened by the degradation and destruction of their habitat. Scientists estimate that the natural forest in
mainland Southeast Asia is being converted to alternative uses at a rate of 4.4 percent per year, in 1994, an
area equivalent to a little less than the total land area of the Netherlands or Belgium (WRI et al. 1996).
Effective control of cross-border transfers is virtually impossible. Thailand has more than 8000 km of border
with Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, while China has nearly 4000 km of border with Myanmar, Laos, and
Vietnam (CIA 1995). Despite rugged mountain terrain, the indigenous population has been moving people
and goods throughout this region for millennia with the several major north-south rivers serving as important
conduits for trade. The planned improvements to transportation, energy, and communications facilities will
only facilitate the flow of goods and services and thus the development of these emerging market economies.
While the expansion of trade will draw both regional and international capital into the area through Asian
subsidiaries or other intermediaries, the growing recognition of the very advantageous geographic location
and the pool of human and physical resources of this region will only bolster this trend.
The enormous pull of demand for forest and agricultural products, water, and energy is placing an
increasingly heavy burden on the region's upland resources and environment jeopardizing the development
prospects of the indigenous peoples. Uncontrolled or poorly managed resource exploitation, especially
logging and mining, infrastructure development, and agricultural expansion threaten large tracts of remaining
upland forests and the watersheds they protect, and thus the livelihoods of those people who for centuries
have depended on these ecosystems. An area rich in resources and potential, the uplands of mainland
Southeast Asia are poised as if on a fulcrum with the pressures of rapid modernization and industrialization
weighed against concerns for careful conservation of the environmental and cultural resources.
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It was in this setting that Chiang Mai University in November 1995 hosted a major regional symposium,
entitled "Montane Mainland Southeast Asia in Transition." Bringing together concerned scientists and
government officials, for a total of more than 150 government and non-government organization (NGO)
representatives from 22 countries, this meeting provided the opportunity for researchers and development
practitioners to share findings from ongoing fieldwork. In providing a forum for the exchange of ideas on
problems of environment and development in the upland areas, specifically of mainland Southeast Asia, this
symposium helped to galvanize a shared vision of critical issues and research priorities. This paper
summarizes and synthesizes the ideas emerging from this meeting, both from the papers presented and the
ensuing discussions. Here we review the major findings emphasizing some of the key themes and critical
issues identified by current research. A summary of the methods and strategies employed in field activities
highlights some of the especially promising techniques being developed. Drawing on the experience reflected
in the papers, we identify issues urgently in need of additional, in-depth research. In setting out this research
agenda, we stress the need to support existing initiatives, programs, and institutions to build on the strong
cooperation already existing among all the scientists working in this area.