Myanmar Agenda 21 highlighted that the existing Protected Area System (PAS) was not
representative and comprehensive (NCEA 1997). Particularly, there is a considerable
conservation gap for marine ecosystems. A broader and more comprehensive gap
analysis was recommended to develop a representative and comprehensive PAS (NCEA
1997; Myint Aung 2007).
In the 30-Year Forestry Master Plan, targets were set to have 5% expansion of PAS from
2001-02 to 2005-06 and 10% from 2007-08 to 2016-17 to fulfill the 1995 Forest Policy
(MOF 2001). Myanmar is also obliged, as a signatory, to meet the objectives of the
Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) to expand their PAS. The identification of Key
Biodiversity Areas (KBA) is considered to be a suitable approach to identify appropriate
areas for further study and evaluation for PA status.
The KBA approach is identified as a tool to address the goal of the Program of Work on
Protected Areas in the CBD “to establish and strengthen national and regional systems of
protected areas integrated into a global network as a contribution to globally agreed
goals” (Langhammer et al. 2007). The KBA approach requires identifying sites of global
biodiversity significance in each country to determine which sites are currently not
represented in protected area systems, and prioritization of conservation actions among
sites. In addition, this process provides high local ownership and participation because
identifying, assessing and prioritizing KBAs is conducted through a multi-stakeholder
consultation. The KBA approach helps conservationists, managers and investors to make
urgent conservation decisions in the face of accelerating threats and pressures. This
approach also allows the application of a gap analysis framework based on additional
information when received.
In the Myanmar context, KBAs fall in different land management categories such as
protected areas, reserve forests, public protected forests, community-conserved forests,
community forests and other resource and land use areas. Therefore, KBAs
accommodate different management systems including government, private,
community-led and joint management. For this process KBAs were reviewed and
updated in order to identify and prioritize investment opportunities for biodiversity
conservation in Myanmar.