Pleas for the conservation of Inle Lake drowned out by war and disaster

As battles rage throughout Myanmar in a multifront civil war, Inle Lake—known for its traditional portrayal as a world floating above the water—lies among the Shan Hills in one of the few areas still secluded from conflict. With an area of around 46 square miles and an elevation 2,900 feet above sea level, the lake is nestled in the high Nyaungshwe Valley between the southern Shan State townships of Nyaungshwe and Taunggyi. Mirroring the sky, the clear blue lake has a serene beauty that has attracted tourists both from abroad and within Myanmar for years. The lake also boasts a unique culture and ecology preserved by its relative isolation. The lake is home to a variety of rare species, and the people native to its shores are known for their specialised farming techniques, construction of floating huts on the water, and travel on boats paddled with their feet. However, the task of preserving Inle Lake’s beauty and unique qualities has become elusive, especially amid the conflict engulfing Myanmar. The local ecosystem also faces growing threats from climate change, deforestation of the surrounding hills, and changing practices of cultivation, all contributing to the silty runoff contaminating the waters. Natural disasters like floods and earthquakes have added to the problem, endangering the survival of the lake’s fragile ecosystem. The lake was beautifully clear about 30 years ago, according to Inle resident Myo Myint, who is in his 60s. “Inle Lake is no longer clean and has turned muddy,” said Myo Myint, an Intha man living in a floating hut on the lake. “In the past, even when the water level rose after heavy rains, the water was always bright and clear.” In 2003, Inle Lake was designated as a cultural heritage site by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Due to its significance as a habitat for migratory birds, rare fish, and aquatic organisms, the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) designated it as Myanmar’s first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2015. In the Inle region, more than 180,000 residents rely on aquaponic farming—commonly known as floating island cultivation—to grow crops like tomatoes and rice, while fishing remains a vital part of their livelihood. The area, made up of over 400 villages, is inhabited by the indigenous Intha people along with other ethnic groups such as the Shan, Pa-O, and Danu. Scene from the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, a famous annual celebration in the Inle region, in 2023. (Photo: Sai Aung Main/AFP) A troubled future Inle Lake, which had already been impacted by major flooding in 1992, was devastated again during Typhoon Yagi in September of last year, causing the worst damage the lake area had experienced in three decades. The water level rose by six feet in the floods and more than 180 villages felt its effects. Many homes and floating farms were utterly destroyed. The bottom floors of houses were completely underwater, with single-level buildings completely submerged, Myo Myint recalled. “Flooding has happened more frequently at Inle Lake in recent years, and it’s caused by human activities,” he said. Houses on Inle Lake damaged by the earthquake that struck Myanmar in March of this year (Photo: Home Again Myanmar) In 2015, the United Nations Development Programme was already calling deforestation around the lake a crisis, and excavation to allow water flow for the Lawpita hydropower project had also disturbed the area’s delicate ecological balance. Generating up to 220 megawatts of electricity, the Lawpita project on the Balu Chaung (or Bilu) River—which flows from Inle Lake to Karenni (Kayah) State’s Loikaw Township—is one of Myanmar’s largest hydropower facilities. “If this continues, the lake will eventually fill up with silt,” Myo Myint said. With more migrants arriving in the area following the surge of tourists, logging has expanded and more of the area’s land is now dedicated to agriculture. Hotels and other businesses have multiplied and expanded, contributing to the environmental degradation. In recent years, residents have observed a sharp rise in shifting cultivation across the highland areas surrounding the lake. Sediment builds up gradually in the lake due to soil runoff from farms, which increases every rainy season, according to Khin Maung Lat, a leading member of the group Save the Inle Lake. “These farms are not managed efficiently or systematically,” Khin Maung Lat explained. “So during the rainy season, the soil becomes loose and washes into the lake with the rainwater.” The sediment, carried southward, accumulates at one end of the lake and impedes the water’s flow, which in turn aggravates the annual flooding problem. The small creek in flowing from the lower end of the lake, serving as its outlet, has visibly narrowed, according to Khin Maung Lat, from a width of about 12 feet ten years ago to less than five feet today. Conversely, during the dry season, this blockage has increasingly contributed to water shortages Young novice monks enjoying a swim in Inle Lake. (Photo: EPA) UN agencies, civil society groups, and international organisations like the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and Japan International Cooperation Agency oversaw medium- to long-term conservation projects in the region between 2012 and 2020. Since then, conservation activities at Inle Lake have been suspended, then stopped altogether, with the Covid-19 pandemic and military coup dealing a double blow. The lack of conservation measures left the region vulnerable to the severe impacts of the Typhoon Yagi flooding in 2024 and the damage from the March 2025 quake. The earthquake, which caused some 60 fatalities in the Inle area and destroyed around 2,000 homes, set back the hard work of Inle residents still trying to repair the damage from the previous year’s flood. There have been no studies yet to assess the effects of the quake on soil composition around the lake, but the impact has been enough, especially alongside the threat of more earthquakes, to compel many to prepare to move out of the area. “Now that the rainy season has begun, many fear another flood like last year,” said Myo Myint. “The floating villages are extremely vulnerable when disastrous storms occur, so a lot of people are now reluctant to keep living on the lake.” Earthquake-damaged homes on Inle Lake (Photo: Sai Laung Kham Facebook) Threats to a way of life The unique cultural heritage of the Inle region used to draw visitors from around the world as well as the country, interested in experiencing the area’s beauty and unique customs, including locally developed weaving methods and traditional handicrafts by skilled artisans. The annual Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival in October was once a reliable high point of tourist activity. This year, however, the pagoda shows severe damage from the March earthquake. Foreign tourism has never reached the same levels it did before the pandemic and domestic tourism has also dried up since the coup. Traditional rowing competition on Inle Lake (Photo: EPA) Residents who used to rely on tourists for their livelihoods are now forced to support themselves with temporary odd jobs. Shan Ma Lay*, now a tour agent, can no longer make a living as an artisan in the traditional weaving and handicraft workshops that once thrived around Inle Lake. The problems caused by the diminished tourist clientele were made even worse by the earthquake, which damaged workshops and put local arts and handicrafts at risk of vanishing for good, she said. “In recent months, a few visitors have begun to return, though the crowds we were once used to welcoming are still nowhere to be seen,” Shan Ma Lay added. Visitors from outside are now mostly workers for nongovernmental organisations or donors hoping to aid residents coping with flooding and earthquake damage. “Nowadays, nearly all our passengers are NGO groups, and the fares add up to far less than what we used to earn from regular tourists,” motorboat operator Myo Win said. “The standard boat rental for regular tourists was about 70,000 kyat [US $16],” he said. “But as most recent visitors are donors supporting Inle, we’ve been charging only around 40,000 [US $9].” “Right now, everyone is trying to get by with odd jobs,” Myo Win said. “If tourists don’t come back, I might turn to buying and reselling motorcycles or bicycles. But since it’s not the work I’m familiar with, it’s neither convenient nor likely to be very successful.” Residents noted that young people had left to seek work opportunities in the towns, and that most who used to make a living by fishing or other water-based work had transitioned to farming or odd jobs. Once-popular attractions like the Shwe Indein Pagoda and Indein village, famous for their relics and antiquities, have fallen eerily silent, according to locals, and the market stalls that used to thrive in the pagoda corridors selling silver and gold jewellery, lacquerware, and art had mostly shut. A local fisherman at work on Inle Lake (Photo: EPA) Institutions that were a mainstay of the area have also been shuttered since the end of last year, including local hotels, youth foreign language schools, a society for the preservation of the Burmese cat breed, and Inle Heritage, a vocational school that offered training and certification in hospitality and tourism. In a statement announcing its closure, the Inle Heritage Foundation cited hindrances to continuing the cultural conservation and educational activities that it had led for 15 years. The renowned Inle Princess Resort and Myanmar Treasure Hotel closed due to fire damage, and other local lodgings have also shut down due to some combination of declining business and damage from natural disasters. “Most of the damage was caused by the earthquake and flooding. As we rely primarily on domestic travellers, our revenue is barely enough to keep operating. The hotel business only becomes profitable with international tourists,” said Aung Myat Thu, an employee at the Hotel Emperor in Nyaungshwe Township, one of the few hotels still open in the area. With the decline in visitors, consequent plummeting incomes, and limited job opportunities, compounded by the threat of natural disasters, the community’s survival is now at serious risk. Hope in the face of adversity “If Inle loses its boatmen rowing with their legs, its fishermen, and the families living on its waters, the loss will be felt by every citizen of Myanmar,” said Arkar, a film director. He has been spearheading the “Home Again Myanmar” initiative since April, undertaking rehabilitation efforts, including home reconstruction, for Inle residents affected by flooding. Within days after the 2024 floods, Arkar travelled to the Inle area to organise relief work and witnessed firsthand how many Intha locals were choosing to abandon their traditional water-based lifestyle and resettle on the land, Arkar recalled. “When I arrived, I honestly thought recovery was out of reach. It seemed like we’d never bounce back. The houses on the water were half-destroyed and submerged. The scene looked like something from a disaster film,” he recalled. With substantial backing from aid workers and charitable organisations based inside the country and abroad, many damaged homes have been reconstructed. Locals have also received essential supplies such as water purifiers, solar panels, and sewage treatment systems. Reconstruction of new homes organised by Home Again Myanmar (Photo: Home Again Myanmar) Nearly 1,500 of some 2,200 homes damaged in the 2025 earthquake have been reconstructed thanks to the support of Home Again Myanmar and other organisations, but more help is still needed, he said. Home Again Myanmar has reconstructed houses with green corrugated metal roofs and bamboo walls. The floor space of each dwelling, built in the traditional Inle style at a cost of 5 to 5.2 million kyat (US $1,140 to $1,180), measures 27 feet long and 15 feet wide. “I hope that in a year’s time, Inle will be even more beautiful and better than before,” Arkar said. Although these contributions provide some relief to residents affected by natural disasters, full recovery and the return of tourism are expected to take years. Restoring the Inle Lake area’s natural environment will require immediate action, without which the harm caused by deforestation and farming practices will put the lake’s ecological sustainability in grave jeopardy. “It is time to protect and conserve Inle Lake at the national level with support from abroad,” Khin Maung Lat of Save The Inle Lake said. The area’s proximity to other regions like Aungpan and Kalaw make conservation efforts all the more urgent, he added, highlighting that these efforts were only likely to succeed in a more stable political environment, and with the combined support of locals, citizens of Myanmar, experts, and international organisations. *The names of some sources for this article were changed to protect their identities.

Pleas for the conservation of Inle Lake drowned out by war and disaster

The unique natural environment and cultural heritage of the Inle Lake area are in jeopardy due to changes in local farming practices, declining revenues from tourism, and the successive impacts of the pandemic, coup, and two years of devastating natural disasters

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