Only 5% of Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot Remains, Now What?

If you’ve walked the grounds of Angkor Wat, seen the temples of Bagan, passed through the streets of Vientiane Lao, strolled the beaches of Koh Samui, or floated along Halong Bay, you know the beauty of the Lower Mekong Region.

Extending from China’s southern most provinces, and reaching across the exotic lands of Southeast Asia to the Bay of Bengal, the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, lies the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.

Only 5% of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot remains in its natural, pristine condition – posing a crisis for the flora and fauna of the region, Asia & the Earth. 

Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh is located within in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.

Photo Credit: CEPF

We hope that through more intensive conservation work and awareness among investors, sustainable development of this region’s economy will flourish alongside the flora and fauna. Overall, GEI believes that in order for the region to be conserved, any investment should be met with serious consideration of all risks and consultation from experts.

A Troubled Treasure of Asia

Spanning over 2 million total square kilometers, the area lives up to its ‘biodiversity hotspot’ title as there are 33 different forms of terrestrial eco-regions (land formations ranging from subtropical forests to mangroves).

Six species of large mammals – like the grey-shanked douc (left) and the Annamite muntjac (right) – have been discovered here in the past 12 years! Plus, ten species of animals – like the Irrawaddy dolphin (left) and Sarus Crane (right) – are endemic, meaning exclusively found, to the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.

The Indo-Burma hotspot is home to about 300 million people, many of whom rely on the environment for their livelihood, engaging in rice patty farming and extensive fishing. Nevertheless, most of the population lives below the poverty line.

A rice paddy farmer in Cambodia.

Photo Credit: Kevin Evans/AusAID

According to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), “The issues of poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation are inextricably linked.”

As such, there’s ample opportunity for new markets and products to make it big. However, government regulations and policies in the region are not developing as efficiently as the economy is growing and the untamed development is threatening the region.

Threats on the Horizon

In addition to facing a low percentage of pristine ecology and high poverty rates, the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot faces a challenge of sustainable development – worsened by by the influx of Chinese investment into the region.

CEPF states that the two biggest threats to the plants and animals in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot are:

1. Habitat loss and

2. Overexploitation of plant and animal species. 

But importantly, these challenges are intensified by the political and economic situation in the region.

As these countries are developing, they face a host of problems including, but not limited to, corrupt or inefficient governments, unstable populous, extensive investment, desperate locals, and sluggish or unchecked economic growth.

Here’s how this plays out in terms of forest loss in Myanmar