Why Myanmar must conserve the value of free-flowing rivers?

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.

3. Grill et al. 2016. Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers. 4. WWF-Myanmar. 2018. The Ayeyarwady River and the Economy of Myanmar. 5. Binney et al. 2017. Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in the Ayeyarwady Basin. Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) Report 5.1. 6. HIC. 2017. Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA); Synthesis report, Volume 1. © Shutterstock

Building large dams on free-flowing rivers is not sustainable

However, these rivers – and the benefits they deliver – are increasingly threatened because of large hydropower dams currently planned all over Myanmar. These dams would severely impact connectivity. A recent study showed that, while very long rivers in Myanmar are still free-flowing, approximately every fourth medium to long river (between 100 and 1000km in length) has been affected by dams, especially within the Sittaung River basin. But the study also shows that if current plans for large dams go ahead, all rivers longer than 500km would cease to be free-flowing7 . The impacts of large dams on livelihoods and biodiversity cannot be underestimated when thinking about sustainable development scenarios. Therefore, the IRS and ARS propose that no new large dam projects are implemented within the timeframe of the scenario and that projects which have already started do not go ahead if they are to be built within a free-flowing river. To implement this assumption into modelling, we referred to a recent study on the connectivity of Myanmar rivers: projects that would impact entire rivers of high connectivity or impact river-stretches of 100km still flowing-free (being a tributary to an entirely free flowing river) were disregarded.

The value of free-flowing rivers is fundamental to regional biodiversity, the economy of the country and the health and well-being of Myanmar’s people. Sustainable development demands their preservation.

Christopher Bonzi, WWF

© Shutterstock