Community
ACB, established in 2005, is ASEAN’s response to the challenge of biodiversity loss. ACB is an intergovernmental organisation that facilitates cooperation and coordination among the ten ASEAN Member States. ACB coordinates the ASEAN Heritage Park Program, which was established to highlight protected areas of high conservation importance, preserving in total a complete spectrum of representative ecosystems of the ASEAN region.
Chances for Nature (CfN) develops sustainable concepts and ideas for the protection of habitats and biological diversity, which are implemented with the local communities with a focus on a harmonious coexistence of man and nature. The organisation connects local communities and international experts to research the biodiversity of Indawgyi. The financial and technical assistance for the construction of the Indawgyi Wetland Education Centre underlines the engagement to communicate the latest insights with the community.
Germany’s third-largest river, the Elbe, is one of the last remaining near-natural rivers in Central Europe. The knowledge exchange and environmental education expertise in this biosphere reserve informs the development of the interactive environmental education programme for Indawgyi Lake.
Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is implementing the Indawgyi Integrated Conservation and Development Project. FFI is the world’s longest-established international conservation organisation with the vision to create a sustainable future for the planet where biodiversity is conserved by the people living closest to it. FFI first started to work on biodiversity research in Indawgyi in 2008 and supported the designation of the Indawgyi Lake basin as a Biosphere Reserve. Ever since FFI has been the main development partner in the biosphere reserve, working in close collaboration with the Forest Department, Fisheries Department, other local government agencies, local CSOs, and communities. FFI has provided technical and financial support for collaborative protected area management, community forestry, organic farming, sustainable fisheries, ecotourism, community-based waste management, sanitation, public awareness and education. Together with Inn Chit Thu FFI is also managing this website.
German Michael Succow Foundation supports nature conservation on the national and international level. It is engaged in the development and protection of national parks and biosphere reserves in transformational countries. With its expertise in biosphere reserve designation and management MSF is providing financial and technical support to the Indawgyi Biosphere Reserve through Fauna & Flora International for integrated biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
The Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve north-east of Berlin features an impressive cultural landscape with about 240 lakes, thousands of bogs, and extensive meadows and fields. The 1990 created biosphere reserve supports the conservation of Indawgyi Lake with its extensive experience and annual study tours, in particular in the field of ecotourism and organic farming.
The Spreewald, roughly one hundred kilometres south-east of Germany’s capital Berlin, is a flooded forest and grassland landscape that bears the mark of human activity, and yet remains largely near-natural. The Biosphere Reserve management shares three decades of experiences through a valuable exchange programme with Indawgyi Biosphere Reserve.
Launched in 1971, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme is an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB combines the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihoods and to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable. Its World Network of Biosphere Reserves currently counts 686 sites in 122 countries all over the world, including Indawgyi Lake.
In 2019 the Indawgyi Wetland Education Centre joined Wetland Link International, a global support network of wetland education centres that deliver engagement activities for wetland conservation.
Wetlands Works! is a social enterprise that provides sustainable solutions for waste water treatment with a focus on harnessing natural microbial processes. In collaboration with Inn Chit Thu they promote an eco-friendly household sanitation system that improves health, hygiene, and reduces the pollution of the fragile lake ecosystem.