"The Chindwin basin’s rich natural resources face a range of threats due to unchecked development, which include mining and logging that are clearing forests, hydropower dams, expansion of crops and irrigated farmland as well as the impact of climate change. These threats directly affect the health, well-being and income of the basin’s communities, and its biodiversity. The changes in the basin –water pollution, river bank erosion, and sedimentation, which causes narrowing or shallowing of the riverbed – are key environmental concerns for local communities. While Myanmar’s forests have been rapidly disappearing, the Chindwin Basin is still one of the country’s most densely forested areas, with nearly half (47.7 percent) covered with a variety of forest types, including montane, deciduous, temperate, subtropical, dry, and rainforest.The basin hosts 14 of the country’s “key biodiversity areas,” which are considered crucial to maintaining global biodiversity. These key areas cover over 51pc of the basin, which is home to a number of rare and endemic species of flora and fauna. The endangered Burmese roofed turtle, for instance, is only found in the Ayeyarwady, Chindwin, Sittaung, and lower Thanlwin rivers..."