SOBA 4.5: BIODIVERSITY OF THE AYEYARWADY BASIN AYEYARWADY STATE OF THE BASIN ASSESSMENT (SOBA) Status: FINAL Last Updated: 13/01/2018 Prepared by: Christoph Zöckler with contributions from Maurice Kottelat (fish diversity) Disclaimer "The Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) study is conducted within the political boundary of Myanmar, where more than 93% of the Basin is situated." i NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE (NWRC) | AYEYARWADY STATE OF THE BASIN ASSESSMENT (SOBA) REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 6 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 8 2 DISTRIBUTION, ABUNDANCE, AND STATUS OF SPECIES........................................ 10 2.1 Mammals ......................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Birds ................................................................................................................. 22 2.3 Not Globally Threatened Waterbirds ............................................................. 41 2.4 Reptiles ............................................................................................................ 50 2.5 Amphibians ...................................................................................................... 58 2.6 Fish ................................................................................................................... 59 2.6 Other Aquatic Fauna ...................................................................................... 69 2.7 Plants ............................................................................................................... 72 3 AREAS OF HIGH BIODIVERSITY VALUES ................................................................... 73 3.1 Hotspots of Biodiversity Distribution ............................................................ 73 3.2 Areas of Fish Species Endemism .................................................................... 76 3.3 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) ........................................................................ 77 3.4 Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites) ................................ 81 4 TRENDS AMONG SELECTED GROUPS OF BIODIVERSITY ........................................ 82 4.1 Trends in Waterbirds ..................................................................................... 86 4.2 Declining Riverine Terns ................................................................................ 94 4.3 Increasing Species .......................................................................................... 94 5 THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY ...................................................................................... 97 5.1 Hydropower and Irrigation Dams .................................................................. 97 5.2 Loss of Wetlands ............................................................................................ 99 5.3 Deforestation ................................................................................................. 101 5.4 Conversion to Plantations ............................................................................ 103 5.5 Gold and Jade Mining ................................................................................... 104 5.6 Pebble and Sand Mining ............................................................................... 104 5.7 Over-Fishing .................................................................................................. 105 5.8 Bird Hunting .................................................................................................. 108 5.9 Illegal Wildlife Trade ..................................................................................... 109 5.10 Plants .............................................................................................................. 110 5.11 Invasive Species ............................................................................................. 110 6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONSERVATION ............................................................ 111 6.1 Sustainable Development .............................................................................. 111 6.2 KBAs and Protected Areas ............................................................................. 111 6.3 Eco-Tourism .................................................................................................... 112 6.4 Head-Start Programme and Assurance Colonies ......................................... 112 6.5 Reintroduction ............................................................................................... 113 ii SOBA 4.5 | BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT 6.6 Integration of Local, Cultural, and Spiritual Context into Conservation Measures .................................................................................................................... 113 6.7 Bird Nest Protection Schemes ...................................................................... 114 6.8 International Conservation Agreements ...................................................... 114 6.9 Biodiversity Surveys ....................................................................................... 116 6.10 Recommendation of a Biodiversity Monitoring Scheme and Indicators ... 116 7 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................... 119 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 121 ANNEX 1 – MAMMAL SPECIES LIST (ACCORDING TO IUCN DISTRIBUTION MAPS) ......... 131 ANNEX 2 –AYEYARWADY BASIN BIRD SPECIES LIST .......................................................... 135 ANNEX 2.1 –AYEYARWADY BASIN WATER BIRD SPECIES LIST ......................................... 164 ANNEX 3 –AYEYARWADY BASIN REPTILE SPECIES LIST ................................................... 169 ANNEX 4 –AYEYARWADY BASIN AMPHIBIANS SPECIES LIST ........................................... 171 ANNEX 5 –AYEYARWADY BASIN FISH SPECIES LIST .......................................................... 172 SOBA 4.5 | BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE (NWRC) | AYEYARWADY STATE OF THE BASIN ASSESSMENT (SOBA) REPORT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Report citation: Zöckler, C., Kottelat, M. 2017. Biodiversity of the Ayeyarwady Basin. Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) Report 4.5. National Water Resources Committee (NWRC), Myanmar. This report has been compiled with the help of many supporters. I would like to thank Gillian Bunting and Carl Reeder (FFI) for their GIS and database support. I would also like to express my thanks to Zau Lunn and Thant Zin of FFI for their support during the field survey, and Frank Momberg (FFI) for inspiration and the overall vision for the basin. Ngwe Lwin (FFI) provided important data support. Maurice Kottelat helped with providing detailed fish information, and Dana Lee supported the habitat information. Thiri Dawei Aung, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), helped with data supply. Alex Diment, Thet Zaw Naing, Rob Tizard, Steve Platt and Naing Lin from WCS supported the report with data support and discussions. Tom Langendoern and Taej Mundkur, from Wetlands International, helped with providing access to unpublished data from their AWC database. David Allen and Ackbar Joolie from IUCN kindly supplied the project with IUCN species distribution data. Eric Baran (WorldFish) led the whole project, provided guidance for coordination between components and field activities, and provided inputs to reports. Tony Whitten (FFI) provided helpful comments and editing, and last not least, Gurveena Ghataure (FFI) helped with the editing and layout of the text. 4 SOBA 4.5 | BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE (NWRC) | AYEYARWADY STATE OF THE BASIN ASSESSMENT (SOBA) REPORT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADPA Ayeyarwady Dolphin Protected Area ARC Ayeyarwady River Corridor AZE Alliance for Zero Extinction BANCA Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association CR critically endangered DD data deficient DoF Department of Fisheries EBA Endemic Bird Area EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EN endangered EW extinct in the wild EX extinct FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FD Forest Department FFI Fauna and Flora International GIS Geographic Information System ha hectare ICEM International Centre for Environmental Management IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN RL International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List KBA Key Biodiversity Area LC least concern m metres mm millimetres MOECAF Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry NE not evaluated NT near-threatened NWRC National Water Resources Committee OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development SOBA State of the Basin Assessment SOBA 4-05 State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA) 4-05: Biodiversity of the Ayeyarwady Basin VU vulnerable