WHY MYANMAR MUST PRESERVE FREE-FLOWING RIVERS Free-flowing rivers are the freshwater equivalent of wilderness areas. They provide a crucial habitat for a host of animals and support the survival of both people and nature. Rivers also underpin the country’s landscapes and contribute to economic growth, food security and human well-being. Because new hydropower dams have severe impacts on the benefits that free-flowing rivers provide, the IRS and ARS propose that no dams are built within today’s free-flowing river stretches. What makes undammed rivers so special? A river that has retained its connectivity from its source to its outlet is considered ‘free-flowing’. In free-flowing rivers, ecosystem functions and services are largely unaffected by changes to connectivity, allowing for unobstructed movement and exchange of water, energy and material like sediment within the river and to the surrounding area. Animals, such as river dolphins and fish, can swim up and downstream and into tributaries at will, while the river itself is able to swell and shrink naturally over the year and replenish groundwater sources. Free-flowing rivers are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, underpinning entire landscapes and contributing to economic growth, food security and human wellbeing. But free-flowing rivers are disappearing globally – only
about a third of the world’s longest rivers (>1,000km) are still free-flowing, with dams being the primary driver of this decline.3 The lifeblood of Myanmar While very long free-flowing rivers have become a rarity globally, Myanmar is home to three of them: the Ayeyarwady, its tributary the Chindwin, and the Salween. These are incidentally also the only remaining very long free-flowing rivers in mainland Southeast Asia. For many people in Myanmar4, healthy, free-flowing rivers such as these, are an important part of their livelihoods, culture and spiritual life5. For example, fisheries play a crucial role in food security, providing approximately two thirds of animal protein in a typical diet. Additionally, more than six per cent of the population is directly employed in the fishery and aquaculture sectors. Rivers also deliver sediment to deltas and coastal areas which in turn ensures coastal stability, fertile agriculture and productive coastal fisheries. For the Ayeyarwady River alone, ecosystem services were quantified to be worth US$2-7 billion a year (this makes up between 5 and 16 per cent of the GDP per capita)6. Furthermore, Myanmar’s rivers are home to species seen nowhere else on earth, making them unique.
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Grill et al. 2016. Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers. WWF-Myanmar. 2018. The Ayeyarwady River and the Economy of Myanmar. Binney et al. 2017. Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in the Ayeyarwady Basin. Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) Report 5.1. HIC. 2017. Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA); Synthesis report, Volume 1.
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