Inle Lake struggles amid tourism boom

Inle Lake struggles amid tourism boom

By Khin Su Wai   |   Saturday, 31 August 2013

As beautiful as Inle Lake – one of the country's most popular tourist destinations – seems to those who visit, a number of urgent problems lurk just below its placid surface.

IN January, at an event at bringing together about 50 youth from Inle and Yangon, some Yangon youth carried a poster showing a typical Inle scene: a fisherman standing on his long wooden boat, with a conical net in the water and the Shan mountains visible in the background.

The picture wasn't so different from many other images of Inle. Located in southern Shan State, the lake is known for its natural beauty and, especially, for the unique relationship between those who live there and the 116-square-kilometre lake. Images like this – emphasising the grace of the men and women who work and live on the water – are the area's calling card, featuring in nearly every travel guide, tourism write-up and in-flight magazine article published about Myanmar. Visitors from all over the world treat Inle as a must-see Myanmar location, part of a well-travelled loop taking in Shwedagon Pagoda, Mandalay's royal palace and Bagan's ancient ruins. Like the birds that nest in the area, they flock to the area for its unspoiled environment, where ecosystem and economy are balanced as neatly as a leg-rower balances on a boat.

For the local contingent, however, the image on the poster told a different story. Ko Win Zaw Oo, leader of a civil society group called Thu Mitta, was one of 50 youth gathering at the Ahtet Laeti Monastery. The natural splendour of the fisherman, the lake and the mountains did not awe him, for he had lived at Inle all his life. What he saw instead were the areas in the background of the picture where once-green mountains had been laid bare, its once-dense forest cut and carted away for firewood.

"I feel sad about the poster you're carrying," he said, pointing to the sign. For him, the lack of trees on the mountains was a sign of environmental degradation, and the picture – for some idyllic – of the fisherman emphasised how Inle Lake's traditional custodians – the Intha – still live in poverty.

"And how could we solve this?" he asked. "Are we happy as fishermen? Why have we remained constantly in a state of poverty? This is not a good sign. It shows an alarming situation for the livelihood of the Intha."

Ko Win Zaw Oo was expressing a sentiment common among those in the area. For all Inle Lake has been thrust into the tourism spotlight, the attention does not seem to have done much good for either of its main draws. However scenic their lives may appear, the Intha are still dependent on ancient practices to scrape out a meager living. Meanwhile, the once-pristine environment, now damaged by visitors and local mismanagement alike, has become a polluted, shrinking pool, posing a threat to both people and wildlife.

Experts say commercial floating farms, which grow vegetables on the so-called "floating islands" of Inle Lake, are the main culprits due to their excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Small-scale farmers also play a role, though experts caution it is best not to condemn their work but rather try to persuade them of the need to look after the environment through more careful cultivation. And locals point out that tourism, however many jobs it brings to their area, damages the lake as well.

Whoever is responsible, the science bears out Ko Win Zaw Oo's worries. Pesticides from agriculture, chemical dyes from textile processing, excess siltation from watershed erosion, the dumping of garbage and waste – any of these can pose a threat to an ecosystem. In combination, as at Inle, they wreak havoc.

One measurement of the health of a body of water is its pH value. Living things flourish in waters measuring around 7, but will struggle or die in water which is more acidic (below 7), or more alkaline or caustic (above 7). The more the needle sways, in other words, the worse the news for biodiversity.

A report released by the Department of Fisheries in February 2012 shows less-than-picture-postcard results: pH values of 9.6 in the central lake; 8.4 in Kaela to the west; 9.1 in Maing Thoak to the northeast; 8.9 in Nang Pan and 9.3 in Inn Paw Khon to the south; 9.0 by the Paung Daw Oo Pagoda.

U Mg Mg Pyone, secretary of the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), said levels like this mean the water is not safe for consumption.

"What we proved by monitoring pH levels from 15 different sites is that in some places the water is not drinkable because of too much chemical use nearby," he said.

Fish and vegetables – especially the area's staple crop, tomatoes – showed traces of the same poisonous chemicals found in the water, U Mg Mg Pyone said. And some of these toxins are working their way even further up the food chain, with blood samples from residents showing traces as well.

There are two emergent threats to the rich verdant ecology and vibrant biodiversity around the Inle Lake area. One is deterioration of water quality – as shown in the high pH levels. The other is depletion of water area. The lake as residents know it seems to be disappearing before their eyes.

Water levels in during the peak of the hot season, in March and April, were significantly down this year, with just 30 centimetres (1 foot) at the jetty at Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda. Transportation was disrupted and some villages were cut off entirely. While a similar drop in water levels occurred in 2010, when much of Myanmar was affected by drought, residents say the weather is not the only factor. They also blame the expansion of rice cultivation beside the lake and the continuous building of hotels to cater to the tourist boom.

In an attempt to control what happens on the lake, BANCA instituted a project called the "Integrated Multi-stakeholder Ecosystem Approach at Inle Lake Based on Zoning Principles and Integration of Eco-restoration and Agro-farming Practices" in August 2011. Co-initiated with the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), and supported by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) through the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED) program, the project took a multi-pronged approach to the increasingly obvious environmental problems posing a threat to the lake area.

Inle Lake was divided into zones, each to be managed by a Village-level Lake Restoration Team (VLRTs). The teams carried out a number of projects, from conducting bird surveys to ensuring legal restrictions on development were properly enforced. They also carried out environmental education programs and demonstrated organic farming practices to farmers to encourage healthier eating and a more inviting atmosphere for tourism.

 

It is estimated that 85 percent of tomato farmers at Inle Lake had used pesticides and chemical fertilisers over the past two decades. Interest in and uptake of organic farming techniques is growing thanks to the efforts of both international and community-based organisations.

 

One small NGO started by Daw Hnin Hnin Ohn was set up to share worm composting practices with other villagers on the lake to produce organic fertiliser.

"The weather at Inle Lake is similar to that of Chaing Mai, where people have had good success with worm farming," said Daw Hnin Hnin Ohn. The project has now spread to 20 villages.

Such local involvement in the recovery movement is critical, said U Tun Aung, a Shan State Hluttaw representative from Nyaungshwe, the main urban gateway to Inle Lake. He said the Intha have a responsibility to conserve their native land, and should understand what roles they can play in the process.

Some locals, however, say change will not be as simple as it seems.

Ko Kyaw Than Htay, a floating-garden worker from Yay Thar village, earns K1500 a day during farming season. Without chemical fertilisers, he said, the yields are not enough to make cultivation economically viable .

U Tin Soe, who works at Shwe Nga Main, a tomato sales broker center, said large-scale farmers would need at least a month to prepare the soil before planting, and using organic compost creates logistical problems in terms of transportation.

Still, the push is on to reform the way local people farm and do business on the lake. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) agreed to fund eight ethnic community-based organisations and local NGOs from July this year to support conservation of the lake. Last year, 12 organisations received similar grants. In all, about 50 community-based organisations are thought to be actively working to conserve Inle Lake's natural resources.

Local reaction to the organisations has been mixed.

U Thein Tun, of 42 Min Chaung village tract, said some residents are appreciative of the groups' intentions but others believe those from outside don't always understand the local way of life. "Some NGOs have made good efforts for us, but some have not. Some NGOs don't understand the Intha's needs, livelihoods and difficulties," he said.

One well-intentioned but incomplete development, he said, turned out to be something of a white elephant for villagers.

"One NGO donated a water tank to the village, but they didn't donate a platform. A villager built it and it cost about 2.5 lakh [K250,000]. This was bad luck for him."

Ko Yay Aye, chairman of the ISDA, agreed that NGOs have not involved residents as much as they should. "When NGOs took a survey of the lake, they used two locals and eight staff from other places. That's not the right ratio."

Other residents said that calls for the Intha to take responsibility for both the damage to and rehabilitation of the lake are unfair. They point out that the Pa-O, another ethnic minority group, live in the surrounding hills and are also responsible for some of the impact. They also blame hotels and the wider tourism industry for some of the damage.

The impact of the growing tourism industry was one focus of a 118-page report – Inlay Lake Conservation Project: A Plan for the Future – that was released in November 2012 and developed with funding from the Norwegian government. While the increase in tourism would generate new income in the area, the report said, there was also a serious threat that the net benefits to the regional communities may be offset by environmental costs to the already-stressed lake.

Part of the changes may also relate to the increasing number of people living on the lake, a figure now pegged at around 200,000, according to the latest government data.

Vice president of Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association, U Ohn, said the area needs stronger support from government partners, such as the departments of forestry, fisheries and irrigation.

The damage has so far done little to deter tourists. Arrivals through the Yangon gateway – the main source of visitors to Inle – grew more than 50pc in 2012 and are expected to grow at least 30pc this year.

But shrinking surface area, declining numbers of native water plants, deteriorating water quality due to poor sanitation, eroding soil in the hillside and delta areas, declining production in floating gardens and health threats to the local population caused by unsafe water are all problems that remain unresolved.

And until they are, it is only sharp-eyed residents like Ko Win Zaw Oo who will be wondering what's wrong with the Inle Lake picture.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/09/01/inle-lake-struggles-amid-tourism-boom/