Myanmar is abundant in diverse natural habitats with a wide variety of wildlife originating from north, south, and southeast Asia, as well as lush forests and extensive river networks flowing from the northern Himalayan mountains southwards to the mangrove river deltas and the Bay of Bengal.  It boasts the highest proportion of forest cover in mainland Southeast Asia with as much as 80% of the world’s teak reserves, and the most biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific region.

Despite low levels of industrialization and population density however, Myanmar’s rich natural environment - and particularly its large areas of natural forest and wetland habitat, are under threat by human activities and climate change.  Myanmar’s rate of deforestation is one of the highest in the world: FAO statistics indicate that the area of forested land has dropped from 58% in 1990 to 47% in 2010, while 282 species of animals and plants are under threat according to the IUCN Red List. Contributing factors to this deterioration of the ecosystem include the degradation of forests, poor agricultural practices, illegal poaching, improper mining practices, and international demand for Myanmar’s resources for energy use and agricultural commodity exports.