Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary

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Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary

Collaboration to preserve nature and wildlife, tackle threats, and develop sustainable livelihoods

Protected Areas

Wildlife conservation

Livelihood Development

Background

Indawgyi Lake, located in Kachin State, is Myanmar’s largest lake. The surrounding wetlands and forests are important ecosystems for endangered wildlife and local communities. But rapid development, increasing demand for natural resources, and illegal activities threaten its ecosystems and biodiversity.

The project

FFI first started to work on biodiversity research in Indawgyi in 2008 and supported the designation of the Indawgyi Lake basin as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Ever since, FFI has been working in close collaboration with the government, local CSOs, and communities to provide support in a number of fields including collaborative protected area management, community forestry, organic farming, sustainable fisheries, ecotourism, and education. An important milestone in the development of a sustainable future for Indawgyi Lake was the establishment of the Wetland Education Center in December 2018. This not only offers ecotourism services to visitors and provides income to local communities but also operates as a learning and sharing center for all stakeholders.

About the organization

Founded in 1903, Flora and Fauna International (FFI) is the world’s oldest international wildlife conservation organization. Its mission is to protect biodiversity and conserve threatened species and ecosystems by choosing solutions that are sustainable and that take into account human needs.

Indawgyi Biosphere Reserve consists of the lake in its center with watershed forests in the eastern and southern parts. Unsustainable practices including illegal activities such as logging, mining, hunting, agricultural encroachment, and illegal fishing methods still occur in the Reserve but have significantly declined.

The seasonally flooded grasslands are one of the most important habitats of the entire Indawgyi Lake basin. They can be found along the lake shore and the outflow river, Indaw Chaung. The grasslands are an important breeding area for fish that migrate all the way up from the Irrawaddy River during the monsoon season. With so much food available, the grasslands are also an essential habitat for water birds such as ducks, geese, and cranes.

Located on the lake shore, just north of Lonton village, the Indawgyi Wetland Education Center has become one of the main attractions of Indawgyi Lake. It offers a beautiful and highly informative exhibition about Indawgyi’s nature and wildlife, as well as insights into local culture and history. Its veranda opens up to the lake and swamp forests, offering a stunning view and an easy glimpse of Indawgyi’s water birds. The center, which opened in December 2018, welcomed almost 17,000 tourists in 2019, of whom only 617 were foreigners.

At Indawgyi Wetland Education Center, there is a weekend class called “green club” in which local children participate in environmental education activities. These include excursions to Indawgyi streams or lake, plastic bottle collecting, or creative workshops with recycled materials. The activities aim to instill love for nature in the future generations of Indawgyi.