Project

Community-based integrated catchment management to conserve the Upper Chindwin River Basin

SEI Asia and partners are supporting local communities in Myanmar’s Upper Chindwin River Basin with community-based water and resource management and biodiversity conservation.

Birds in the Bank of Khamti Town Photo: SEI Asia

Active project

2021–2024

Project contacts

Thanapon Piman / thanapon.piman@sei.orgRidhi Saluja / ridhi.saluja@sei.org

About

SEI Asia is implementing a community-based integrated catchment management project to conserve the Upper Chindwin River sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under the Darwin Initiative. The project is collaborating with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), and Myanmar Environment Institute (MEI).

The project aims to improve the livelihoods of local communities in the Upper Chindwin River Basin’s Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) by implementing community-based water and resource management strategies and biodiversity conservation.

The Upper Chindwin KBA remains one the least protected areas in the Indo-Burma region although it is the habitat for many threatened and critically endangered flora and fauna including 38 freshwater animal species such as the critically endangered Batagur trivittata (Burmese Roofed Turtle).

It is critical to support the lives and livelihoods of the people who depend on the Upper Chindwin River Basin by improving land and water management practices and increasing public and policy awareness of the socio-ecological importance of, and the wide-ranging threats to, the basin’s biologically rich and diverse ecosystems.

Rice farming and fishing constitute the primary means of subsistence for the majority of the people in the basin, with eighty percent of the population depending on fields, forests, lakes, streams, and wetlands for their livelihoods and income. Hence, conservation and restoration of the basin ecosystems is critical for maintaining the quality of ecosystem services, especially given the increasing impacts of climate change.

The project integrates local communities’ perception of biodiversity and ecosystem services to develop Community Action Plans (CAPs). The CAPs aim to supplement the existing knowledge base to improve existing agricultural, mining, and water (and wetland) management practices. The project will also facilitate local community capacity building in defining conservation and restoration zones, improving community-based natural resource management, and promoting just transitions to more equitable and sustainable resource use. The project aims to benefit approximately 12,000 residents in nine villages.

Objectives

Building capacity of civil society and government agencies in assessing potential impacts of development and climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services and livelihoods.
Mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services values into policies and plans
Raising public awareness on biodiversity conservation.

Outputs

The KBA in the Upper Chindwin Basin will provide improved and more secure habitats for endangered species and better livelihood pathways through enhanced ecosystem services for the local people.

Baseline assessment of physical conditions, ecosystem services, critical biodiversity hotspots and habitats, and existing livelihood practices on water and land management, informing an endorsed habitat restoration plan and CAPs development.
Community Action Plans (CAP) focusing on integrated wetland ecosystem measures developed for nine villages, implemented in three priority villages.
Optimal ecological conditions agreed upon for endangered and key livelihood species and habitat restoration plan completed and shared.
Policy and recommendations published for upscaling CAP and conservation measures to other villages with Upper Chindwin Basin KBAs.

SEI in the Chindwin River Basin

SEI has worked with Myanmar’s partners and stakeholders for over a decade on environmental and development-related issues to accelerate the country’s transition to sustainable development.

SEI has previously worked on the Chindwin Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (CBES) 2017-2019 project, which helped to identify potential impacts of climate change on livelihoods and biodiversity, as well as supported decision-makers to strategize for integrated river basin management. Read more about it here.

The Chindwin Futures Projects (2015-2016), implemented by SEI, facilitated the connection between science and governance in Myanmar’s water sector. The project assisted in the establishment of Myanmar’s first River Basin Organization (RBO) for natural resource management.

Prior to the Chindwin Futures, The Ayeyarwady Futures Partnership (AFP) partnered with key environmental organizations and government agencies to enhance environmental research and resource management capabilities. Read more about it here.

Baseline survey

In July 2022, a survey was conducted in five priority wetlands and dependent villages. This survey aimed to develop a baseline for socioeconomics, biodiversity, and physical parameters, which would inform the development of Community Action Plans (CAPs) for livelihood enhancement and biodiversity conservation.

Data collection involved focus group discussions and in-depth surveys. Village Working Committees were also set up in each village to be engaged throughout to guide project activities.

Wetland at Tharyar Kone Village. Photo: Naga Social network organization (NSNO).

Focus group discussion at Nar Mittyar Village. Photo: Myanmar Environment Institute (MEI).

Focus group discussion at Phaung Saing Village. Photo: Myanmar Environment Institute (MEI).

Some key findings of the baseline assessment are as follows:

Most respondents have seasonal livelihoods and inadequate income and often struggle due to seasonal unemployment.
7 percent of respondents were involved in subsistence agriculture, with livestock (3.8 percent) and fishing (3.8 percent) being the second most crucial livelihood source.
Nearly all respondents (99.2 percent) agreed that healthy wetlands support their livelihood practices and need to be conserved.
Despite the prevalence of agricultural activities in the villages, agricultural expansion was not identified as a significant threat to the wetland ecosystems. In contrast, mining was highlighted as a significant threat in all villages. Illegal fishing techniques and land ownership issues also emerged as threats.
The wetlands provide a habitat for several endangered species, including the Burmese roofed turtle, Puntius manipurensis, Schistura kangjupkhulensis, Schistura reticulate, and Dipterocarpus retusus. The basin is adversely affected by an increased influx of sediments into these wetlands, as suggested by higher turbidity values.
Key implementation priorities include delineating wetland boundaries and conservation zones, establishing community-led wetland monitoring, rehabilitation activities for former logging and mining areas, developing regulations around sustainable fishing, promotion of alternative livelihood options (specifically, livestock rearing, agriculture and fishponds), and general awareness raising for sustainable livelihoods and wetland conservation.

The project’s next steps will be to develop the CAPs and build local capacity to implement livelihood options and conservation activities. A follow-up biodiversity and biophysical wetland survey will be undertaken in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Conserving biodiversity in the Chindwin River Basin in Myanmar

SEI brief / These two policy briefs explore policy challenges for biodiversity conservation in the Chindwin River Basin in Myanmar.

9 January 2019 / About Disaster Risk, Ecosystems, Food and agriculture and Wellbeing

Chindwin Futures: Natural resources, livelihoods, institutions and climate change in Myanmar’s Chindwin River Basin

Other publication / This socio-ecological assessment of the Chindwin River Basin in Myanmar shows it is facing huge changes that can both benefit and harm vulnerable communities.

20 September 2021 / About Adaptation, Climate policy, Ecosystems, Forests and Water resources

Policy recommendations for environmental conservation in the Chindwin River Basin

SEI brief / This brief explores ideas for enhancing community-based conservation in the Chindwin River Basin.

1 October 2021 / About Water resources

Rapid Village Assessments

The project undertook rapid village assessments (RVA) in the priority villages as part of the project’s goals to preserve ecosystems to support livelihoods and implement community measures for the conservation of wetlands. The results of the RVA are intended to help prioritize villages for the next state of project activities, including more in-depth surveys and the development of Community Action Plans (CAP) to establish sustainable agricultural, mining and water management practices.