How Conflict Economies And Political Volatility Drive Myanmar’s Deforestation

Eurasia Review  |  Khant Eaint Hmoo

Myanmar's military regime and ethnic armed organisations are accelerating deforestation across Kachin, Shan, and Tanintharyi states to fund active conflict operations through unregulated resource extraction. This rapid environmental destruction has cleared 830 kilo-hectares of humid primary forest since 2002, severely threatening regional biodiversity, water safety, and long-term human security.

Decades of militarised governance and weak environmental regulations established a pattern of state-sanctioned logging and mining concessions to secure political patronage. Following the 2021 coup, the collapse of formal administrative oversight allowed illicit networks to expand rare-earth mining near the Chinese border. Consequently, the country exported nearly $4 billion in rare-earth minerals to China, while arsenic contamination in the transboundary Salween River reached 55 times the safe limit. To prevent permanent ecological collapse, the National Unity Government and regional stakeholders must establish independent satellite tracking and transparent cross-border supply chain regulations.

Comment

Armed militias in Kachin State fund their insurgent operations through unregulated rare-earth mining. These revenues bypass international banking sanctions through Chinese cross-border trade networks. The Tatmadaw exploits these resource corridors to co-opt local border guard forces against the resistance. This financial flow undermines regional counter-insurgency campaigns by sustaining independent armed factions.

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