Report
Period: 20 July - 6 August 2003. Country: Myanmar, Laos
  Purpose of the Visit
  On-Site Education and Joint Research in Myanmar and Laos
  TAKEDA Shinya (ASAFAS: Division of Southeast Asian Area Studies)
  Record of Activities
  7/20 (Sun)
    		• Kyoto – Yangon
      7/21 (Mon)
    		• Yangon – Pyay: Meeting with the Forest Department
      7/22 (Tue) – 24 (Thu)
    		• Stay at Paukkhaung Camp, survey SN Village
      7/25 (Fri)
    		• Pyay – Nyaunpintha – Taungtwingy – Moeschwe – Yezin
      7/26 (Sat)
    		• Yezin – Toungoo: Meeting with Institute of Forestry
      7/27 (Sun) – 28 (Mon)
    		• Survey in area around Kyetshar
      7/29 (Tue)
    		• Toungoo – Bawnetgyi – Bago – Yangon
      7/30 (Wed) – 8/2 (Sat)
    		• Yangon: Meeting with the Forest Department; Local seminar at the Yangon FS
      8/3 (Sun)
    		• Yangon – Bangkok
      8/4 (Mon)
    		• Bangkok – Vientiane
      8/5 (Tue)
    		• Meeting and local seminar at the National University of Laos, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry
      8/6 (Wed)
    		• Vientiane – Kyoto

     

      Outcome and Progress Report
     
     (1) On-Site Education in Myanmar
              On this trip, I visited the survey area in the Bago mountain range, along with Reiji Suzuki(Year of admission into the 3rd year: 2001) and Yuki Onodera(Year of enrollment: 2003). Suzuki has set his research theme as the “Long-term Sustainability of Taungya Teak Reforestation viewed from transition of environmental factors in the Bago Mountain Range, Myanmar .” He conducted long-term research in the area during the last fiscal year, and this time carried out a supplementary survey. The great advantage of “on-site education” is that it allows us to have discussions on the site.
     (2) Joint Research in Myanmar
              Joint research is being carried out on forest use in the Bago mountain range. Teak plantations were established in the middle of the 19th century in the Bago mountain range, and have continued until today. There are very few examples outside of the Bago range where plantation has been conducted for such a long period of time in a tropical region. In order to gain a general understanding of the experience of this forest, studies are being implemented jointly with the Myanmar Institute of Forestry (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Scientific Research [B], “Sustainable Forest Management and indigenous uses of forest resources in Myanmar”). Along with ongoing surveys in the Kabaung River basin on vegetation, soil, land use and plant use, weather monitoring and dendrochronological studies were initiated at seven sites in the Bago mountain range. The following is included in the mid-term report for joint research for the current fiscal year.

    • Reiji Suzuki, Shinya Takeda, 2003, “Long-term sustainability of “taungya” teak reforestation Myanmar: focusing on the effects of forest fires on the long-term dynamics of soil organic matter” The Proceedings of 13th Conference of Japan Society of Tropical Ecology, p. 62
    • Maki Fukushima, Mamoru Kanzaki, Seiichi Ota, Shinya Takeda, 2003, “Forest recovery after shifting cultivation of the Karen People in Myanmar,” The Proceedings of 13th Conference of Japan Society of Tropical Ecology, p. 63
    • Yukino Ochiai, 2003, “Use of plants from the Coix lacryma-jobi L.  (Job's tears) variety by the Karen: from the case of SN Village in the Bago Division, Myanmar,” The Proceedings of 13th Conference of Japan Society of Tropical Ecology, p. 64
    • Shinya Takeda, Reiji Suzuki, San Lwin, Hla Maun Thein, 2003, “Mapping Shifting Cultivation Fields in Karen Area, Bago Yoma, Myanmar,” Japanese Journal of Tropical Agriculture Vol.47 (Extra Issue 2), pp. 81-82
    • Reiji Suzuki, Shinya Takeda, San Lwin, Hla Maun Thein, 2003, “Agroforestry in Myanmar: Soil nutrient dynamics under Taungya system during intercropping period,” Japanese Journal of Tropical Agriculture Vol.47 (Extra Issue 2), pp. 83-84
     (3) On-Site Education in Laos
              A seminar was held at the Field Station of this Program, which was opened in the National University of Laos. For its detail, please see Iwata's report.

     

      Future Tasks
                One of the future tasks is risk management at the survey site including malaria.
              The Paukkhaung camp, where we stayed for a short period, is in a site well known for malaria in the Bago mountain range. Because of this, a lot of attention was given to anti-mosquito measures, such as mosquito coils, insect spray and mosquito nets, but Suzuki contracted malaria and had to be hospitalized soon after arriving back in Japan. Fortunately, his case was not serious, but he contracted the disease twice in the space of one year.
              This was a painful reminder of the fact that we must equip ourselves with adequate knowledge, and bring the necessary medications with us.

     

     
    Calibrating the rainfall meter installed on the roof of the dormitory (Kyetsha)   Carrying water from a stream in bamboo pipes (SN Village)
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